A Smile and a Blush
by kluxces
Summary: Rukia leads a hard life but through hardship, she was accepted to the most prestigious and wealthiest school where she will learn about her past and what the future could bring for her. RukiaxIchigo / RukiaxUlquiorra
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't use big word and I don't own Bleach

* * *

Just one look at the girl with her dirty sneakers and secondhand clothes, you will know that she does not belong in this school where most of its inhabitants are covered from head to toe with designer clothes, shoe, bags, you name it.

However she carries herself with an air of dignity. She does not give a damn about the things people think or talk about her. She knows she has to work thrice as hard just to get accepted in this school, not only academic wise but in actual term of working too. She has her regular day job to pay for the school fees and is working two part time jobs during the night for the books and other expenses.

So she is really looking forward for lunch break because it is the only time that she can relax. She stretches her leg and leans her weight on the tree trunk. She closes her eyes, hoping that she can steal a wink or two before the school bell rings again indicating the end of lunch break. She likes this particular spot, where nobody disturbs her as the tree provides shade from the glaring morning sun.

"Rukia!"

Well, nobody except for this guy.

Rukia ignores him.

"Hey Rukia!"

"What it is Renji?" asks Rukia without opening her eyes. She does not bother to disguises her annoyed tone either.

She had met Renji last two summers at the place she was working at. He came to the restaurant every single day and always left big tips if she was the one who attended to him. She got teased a lot because of it but she needed the money so she just ignored the jeers from the other older waitresses and continued with her job.

So imagined her shock when she saw him at the school the first day she was here. Renji on the other hand seemed extremely happy about it. He took her under his wing and showed her the way around school.

There were two thoughts that ran through her mind at that moment.

Thought #1: she has to stop taking tips from him.

Thought #2: she will get butchered.

Turned out she did get butchered however not by Renji but from a bunch of girls. Later on Rukia found out that those girls are members of Renji Fan Club. The girls continue to taunt Rukia with warnings and stupid pranks but Rukia refuse to take crap from anybody. She, who was used to abuse, took it with stride which made the girls even more pissed.

Her valor was quickly became the talk of the school.

She also made the headline for other reasons. The fact that she is poor but can afford this school makes the school buzz with speculations. Some say that she has a sugar daddy. Others say that she just has poor taste in fashion and she is not really poor. But the best so far was the one where she was a bank robber and has tones of money stashed somewhere. She just acted poor as a cover up so that the police will not suspect her. With that bank money, she also did a plastic surgery which explains why she is one of the prettiest girls in the school.

Soon enough she caught the eyes of several other male students and quickly became the enemy of even more girls.

"Rukia!" calls Renji again.

"Jeebus Renji! What do you want?!" Rukia opens her eyes, glaring at the grinning Renji standing in front of her. "What?!"

"Take a guess" beams Renji.

Rukia grunts and closes her eyes. Once again she leans her weight upon the tree. She is not playing this game with him.

"Aww come on now Rukia. Take a guess. It's going to worth your time. I promise."

Rukia ignores him.

"Alright, I'm feeling generous today so I'll give you a hint. It has something to do with boobs!"

"Like I care?"

"You are no fun, you know that?"

"So I have been told."

Renji does a facepalm. "Can you at least for one minute pretend that you are interested?"

Silence.

"Jeez Rukia!" Renji throws himself besides Rukia. His butt lands with a thud.

"Go away Renji," says Rukia. Her eyes still close.

"Alright I'm going to tell you anyway. Inoue and Ishida have called it off. They are officially single for --," Renji looks at his wrist watch. "6 minutes."

If there is one thing Rukia dislike about Renji, it is his interest with other people's business. He just loves gossips.

"Yippee!" says Rukia faking her excitements.

"Don't you want to know why?"

"No," Rukia yawns.

"You should though."

"Why?"

"Because Inoue thinks Ishida has the hot for you."

Rukia eyes shot open. She nearly chokes with laughter.

"I told you this is worthy of your time," says Renji in between chuckles.

"That girl needs her head examine. Everyone knows Ishida is gay for her," says Rukia after her laughter has subsides.

"I am not too sure about that, Rukia… You do have that charm to attract even the gayest boy in this school."

Rukia snorts. "You are the gayest boy I know but you don't have the hot for me," jokes Rukia.

Renji jabs Rukia with his elbow which makes Rukia bawling with hilarity.

_If only you knew, Rukia…_

The school bells ring indicating the end of the lunch break. Rukia stands up and offers her hands towards Renji. Renji takes it and Rukia hauls him up. Renji always wonder where does she get her strength from.

"I guess that adds another girl to my enemy list," Rukia says imperturbably.

Renji looks at the back of Rukia as she walks towards their classroom. He knows what she just said is true. Rukia needs to deal with the repercussion although it was not her fault. She is the scapegoat for the high society girls in this school. He wishes he could do something about it but…

With heart heavy with worry and regret, Renji follows Rukia.

--

Rukia takes her seat lazily besides the window. She takes out the Math book since the class is about to start soon. She flips through the pages but her eyes are looking out the window.

Renji who walks in after her take his seat as well. Several seats in front of him, a bunch of girls are gathering around Inoue, comforting the damsel in distress. Most of the girls look sneeringly at Rukia. No doubt hating the girl with the raven hair for once again is the cause of another couple break up.

Keigo and Mizuno come to his table and starts talking about the latest scandal that has taken the school by storm.

"You think Rukia-chan will hook up with Ishida soon?" asks Keigo. His eyes dart from Renji to Rukia to Inoue.

You can hear Inoue's sobbing become louder.

Mizuno jabs Keigo to shush him up. "Be a little considerate, will you?"

"But I'm curious!" pouts Keigo. "You know I have the biggest crush on Rukia-chan!"

Renji is about to smack Keigo at the back of his head when Miss Unohana steps in the class. Students quickly take their places and greet their home room teacher.

Miss Unohana greets them back and then she signals her hand towards the door. Few seconds later, a student with bright orange hair walks in, caring his RAF bag over his shoulder. Once he enters the classroom, his eyes quickly scan the rooms as if he is looking for something or someone.

"Please introduce yourself," instructs Miss Unohana after she told the class that this new guy is the new transfer student and wish everyone will help him to get use to the new school.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," is all he said.

Everyone expects to hear more from the introduction but the new transfer student just stands there looking around the class.

The class quickly erupted with student asking questions one after the other. The girls are squealing to learn more about him and the guys are intrigue with his laid-back attitude.

Ichigo's eyes continue to scan the room until it stops at one student who is the only one who is not paying attention to him or to the class. She is gazing out the window with a melancholy looks in her eyes. Her tiny hand continues to flip the book in front of her, from one page to the next.

Miss Unohana has to set order to the class before the student settle down again.

"I guess you can tell more about yourself once you are more acquainted with the rest of the student," says Miss Unohana awkwardly. "You can have a seat now, Kurosaki. Choose any empty seat you like."

"Thank you," says Ichigo. He starts walking.

The girls in the class begin to squeal yet again, each hoping that he will seat either next to them or behind them or in front of them. Anywhere, as long as he is seating close by. But one by one the squeal is silenced as Ichigo walks directly to the back of the class where the only empty seat is the one behind Rukia.

As he walks pass Rukia, the girl finally acknowledges his existence as she looks at him nonchalantly. Ichigo feels like her big amethyst eyes are piercing right through his soul and he is strip naked in front of her so when Rukia smiles casually at him, he blushes the shade of red.

* * *

First chapter of my new fanfic. Consider it a trial. Tell me if I should continue. R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't use big word and I don't own Bleach

* * *

It has been almost a month since Kurosaki Ichigo transferred to this school. He quickly gained popularity although in all honesty he does not do anything that warrants it. People are mistaking his aloofness and his constant scowling as being cool. Go figure.

The fact that his family recently funded quite an amount of money (i.e. a lot) for the library and activity rooms has also led people to believe that he is currently the wealthiest kid attending this school. It is not far from the truth though. The Kurosaki family is actually head to head with the Schiffer family in term of being the wealthiest.

The girls and some of the boys are head over heels in love with him while most of the guys look up to him. Even though Ichigo tries to avoid unnecessary conversation, he still is on friendly term with almost everyone. After all, the reason he has asked for the transfer is to uncover what he needs to discover.

The teacher is at the moment explaining something about the Calculus Manipulative.

Instead of paying attention to what the teacher is teaching Ichigo finds himself once again staring at the small back of the raven haired girl who is sitting in front of him. She is concentrating on the lesson and is taking her note vigorously.

She is the only girl in this school that has not tries to make a pass at him. Hell, she does not even bother to look at him. When their eyes met, it was usually accidental i.e. he has been secretly observing her, like what he is doing now.

Ichigo smiles ruefully. He likes looking at her. When she is not aware she is being observed, she makes all sorts if weird and sometimes funny faces. Like at this moment for example, whenever she is concentrating, her index finger of her left hand always manages to find her lower lip and play naughtily with it. Or when she got questioned by the teachers she always tucked in her hair behind her left ear before answering. Ichigo recognizes it as the sign of her being nervous. She also has the habit of tapping her foot when she gets annoyed. But his most favorite expression of her is probably when she looks out the window gazing at the scenery outside that promise sovereignty. She just looks so out of place in this world full of shallow and pretentious people.

Even though he has been sitting behind her for a month, he has yet to get formally acquainted with her. She would smile whenever their eyes met and he would blush every time she did that. But that was about as far as their friendliness goes. Not a single word has been uttered between them. To be honest, Ichigo is slightly pisses off that she does not seem to remember him at all.

It is not like he never tried to talk to her but she always vanish during lunch break and quickly disappear when the bells ring indicating the end of the school days. He had seen her couple of time under that tree during lunch break but he does not think he has enough reason to disturb her serendipity. He tried to look for her before she stepped out the school ground, but for someone short, she sure is fast. He even checked the club to try his luck but to no avail.

He later found out that she has joined the Kendo club which has practice every other day. Ichigo could not resist a chuckle. He should have known. It is the perfect club for her. Kendo is the least popular club in this school because no one wants to get their clothes smelling like piss from the gears. It also signifies that she does not totally forget about her past. It gives Ichigo some hope. So last week he decided to join the club too. He has brought all his gears with him today so he can't wait for the school to be over. He so badly wants to talk to her.

While they have yet to strike a conversation, Ichigo has learned a lot about her from all the rumors he has heard. For someone who is so low profile, she sure is popular among the students and even among the teachers. The opinions are divided though. Most of the girls only have nasty things to say about her however the boys only have praises for her. The teachers too commend on her diligent and hard-working attitude.

Despite what the rumors said about her, she is not an anti-social. Ichigo has seen her talking to the boys although the boys are usually the one who initiate the conversation. She does not even seem ill at ease with everyone. She is more often than not seen hanging out with Renji and after Ichigo has done some inquiry; Renji is probably the closest friends to Rukia in this school. People had seen them together since the first day Rukia set foot in this school.

This led to another discovery of how she often gets bullied by the girls. He has yet to witness it with his own eyes but he has heard some pretty good story about how bold and defiant she often is. The sort of things she did has become quite legendary tales in this school. It was among the first story he heard when he first arrived here. Ichigo almost feels sorry for the girls who are stupid enough to play with fire.

Ichigo smiles again. She has not changed at all except for those sad amethyst eyes. Even though Ichigo has seen her laughing, that sad eyes of her cannot fool him even for a second.

The bell for lunch break rings through every corner in the school. The teacher is reminding the students of tomorrow quiz but half of them are already out of the classroom heading for the café.

Ichigo eyes still follow every move that Rukia makes. Unlike any other day, today she still bends over her desk finishing her notes.

"Rukia, time to fill in that stomach of yours," calls Renji as he walks towards Rukia. Sneers can clearly be heard by some of the girls that have yet to head out for lunch break.

Ichigo feels a tug in his heart as he watches Renji casually put his palm on Rukia's head. Rukia looks up.

"Go on ahead. I'm not hungry –"

"Like hell you aren't –"

"I need to finish this," says Rukia with tone clipped with finality. Renji knows whatever he said now will not change this girl's mind. He admits defeat with a shrugs as Rukia picks her pen again to continue with her homework.

Renji looks exasperatedly at Rukia. That is when he sees Ichigo. He grins.

"Let's go. The others are waiting." It was not an invitation, but more like an order. Renji does not want Rukia to be disturbed.

And true enough the classroom is by now empty except for the three of them. Ichigo eyes averts back to Rukia. He does not feel like eating today but Renji is already on his heel and dragging Ichigo away.

"But she –"

"Do not bother," Renji interrupts Ichigo protest with definiteness. Ichigo would have lashes back if it was not for the grim tone that he heard laced through his words. Instead Ichigo looks at Renji inquisitively.

Renji sighs. "She needs to work over time today and probably won't be done until later at night. That is why she needs to finish up her homework whenever she could."

"Even if it means she has to skip lunch?"

Renji nods dourly in affirmative. "Anyway it is none of our concern," says Renji as he steps into the café.

Ichigo stops on his track. He could not believe what he just heard. Renji who realize Ichigo is no longer besides him turn around to find the scowling on Ichigo's face deepens. Renji chuckles and walk back towards Ichigo. He pats Ichigo's back. "You are better off not knowing, my friend. Trust me. She is not one of us."

Ichigo would have rearrange Renji's face if someone did not bump into him.

"Ouch," yelps a female voice from behind.

Ichigo turns around and found a girl that he recognizes from his class rubbing her head.

"You okay there, Orihime?" asks Renji mockingly as Ichigo mumbles an apology.

If look could kill, Renji would have been seven feet underground by now. Inoue glares at Renji who is dragging Ichigo away towards Keigo who is waving frantically beckoning them to sit with him and the others. Already sitting at the table are Mizuro, Keigo, Ishida and Sado.

"Ichigoooo –"

"Be quiet Keigo."

"I was just being friendly –"

"I said shut up," warns Ishida for the second time. Keigo pouts nevertheless shut his mouth.

Ichigo avoids Ishida's glaring eyes as he takes a seat besides Mizuro.

"Chill out, Four Eyes. I just found out Kurosaki is gay," says Renji as he pats Ishida's back before he takes a seat next to him. Mizuro and Keigo cackle as they heard this. Sado is as expressionless as ever, Ichigo does not find it amusing while Ishida does not buy the blatant lie.

"If that's the case then Ichigo has to worry about Ishida wanting his hole," says Sado with a straight face and the usual monotonous tone of his.

The boys at the table fall silence for couple of second as each of them look at each other.

"Oh my freaking mother of sex! Sado just cracked a joke!" exclaims Keigo and now all six of them burst into laughter which invites several curious glance from their neighbors.

There are several inter-groups in the café. Ichigo does not belong to any of them but he tends to find himself getting drag to this particular group where none of them has anything in common personality wise. There are Ishida who is the quite type but can be very annoying when he got something righteous to say, Mizuro is the mama lover i.e. he is popular among the older girls, Keigo who can be considered the clown of this group. He is obsessed with girls but ironically girls find him aggravating. There is also Sado, the expressionless gentle giant who says very little and Renji who is always over the top kind of person. There are other two students that have not showed up yet; Ikkaku who is very brash and Yumichika who is obsessed with beautiful things. Thank god that he himself can be considered as a thing of beauty otherwise Ichigo might have puke blood. Men are not supposed to be obsessed with that kind of thing. It went against the nature. These two boys are rarely seen without the other.

There is also a group that consist the most rebellious looking student in the school and with Ichigo's hair color, it would be more fitting for him to hang around with them. There are guys with blue and pink colored hair and girls with striking yellow and green hair in the mix. There is also a lanky looking guy that licks his lips lustfully every time a girl walked by. Just by looking at him, Ichigo knows that he is bad news. Ichigo has been fascinated with this group ever since he saw Rukia talked to the most quite person in that group with jet black hair and a green tattoo that resembles tear flowing down from his eyes at both of his cheeks. Who in their right mind would have tattoos like that?

Perhaps one of these days, he should stop by their table and say hi. Just for the heck of it.

At the far end of the café, there is another group that consists of a guy with baby doll hair, a bratty looking girl with two ponytails who always seems to be yelling at the baby doll haired guy. There is also a very fat and quite guy, a girl who always seen with a porno magazine in her hands, a very girly looking girl with green hair, a well build guy with silver hair and another guy who always has his shade on regardless of the time and weather.

Positioned at the entrance of the café is another group which consists of the most glamorous looking girls in this school. The girl that bumped into him earlier is one of the girls that are sitting there making sure their make up are always perfect, or their shoe and accessories always match their clothes. In other words this is a group of spoiled brats. This is also the group that is mostly responsible of making sure that Rukia's life in this school is a living hell.

Ichigo can see why Rukia is never been seen in this café. Instead of a cafeteria, this school is providing it student with the most luxurious looking café you can imagine. Even the menus are in foreign language and complicated to pronounce for most common people. Let's not even mention about the price of the foods.

"Are you not eating that, Kurosaki?" asks Ikkaku who finally shows up with Yumichika at his heels. Ichigo has been playing with his food without showing any interest on the conversation.

"You can have it if you want," says Ichigo pushing away his plate.

Ikkaku grins with glee.

"See you later, guys," says Ichigo as he stands up and ready to take leave.

All seven pair of eyes is on him and the conversation comes to a halt.

"Where are you going?" asks Mizuro.

"I've got a green stomach," Ichigo lied. He could not keep Rukia out of his mind.

"Oh… okay later," says the occupant on that table in unison. For once Ichigo are glad that men are so simple minded most of the time.

When he is outside the café, Ichigo finds a secluded area and dial a number from his cell phone. He waits for the receiver to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Kisuke?"

"What can I do for you, Ichigo?"

"You can start investigate now," with that Ichigo ends the call.

--

Uruhara Kisuke smile knowingly as he listened to Ichigo's order.

"Time to get to work," he said to himself. He goes to his file cabinet and pulls out a file that has Kuchiki Rukia's name on it.

--

Rukia gazes out of the window. Her homework is long forgotten as she looks at a figure that is taking her spot under that tree. He is lying there watching the clouds with both hands behind his head.

Even under the shade provided by the tree, his orange hair can still be seen.

"Kurosaki Ichigo…" she whispers.

As if he heard her calling his name, Ichigo looks at her and their eyes meet. It is Rukia's turn to blush seeing that Ichigo is smiling at her from under that tree.

* * *

Read and Review! It would be a great motivation is you do but I won't hate you (too much) if you do not.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I got a major writers block. This chapter took me almost three weeks to finish. I hope it turns out satisfactory and not too much of a disappointment.

Disclaimer: I don't use big word and I don't own Bleach

* * *

Ichigo adjusts his keikogi and hakama. He is getting impatience. Ichigo picks up his shinai and starts tapping the wooden floor with it. He checks his wrist watch. He has been here for almost 15 minutes.

Does the practice get canceled?

Ichigo sighs. He decides to wait for another 5 minutes. If there is no one who shows up, he will just have to leave.

…

And his 5 minutes are up.

Ichigo stands up lazily. Damn it, he is actually looking forward to meet Rukia at the practice today. He picks up his shinai and heads for the door. That is when the double doors of the dojo swing open and a group of students walk in, chattering noisily.

When they see Ichigo, everyone stop dead in their tracks and Ichigo is greeted with silence.

Ichigo cough a not so confident cough to break the silence. He does not like what he sees in front of him at the moment. These kids are the same students he saw earlier at the café, the one that he deemed the most rebellious looking students in the school. The fact that they are all wearing the same type of keikogi and hakama as he is and each of them carrying a shinai too makes it even worse.

Ichigo refrains himself from doing a face-palm.

"Well… fuck my catnip but what do we have here?" asks the blue haired male students, chuckling as he swings his shinai to let it rest on his shoulder. Well his hair color is not exactly blue, but more like azure.

"Don't you think you are better suited to be a member of the golf club?" asks the pink haired male student. Yes. Pink. On a male student's head. Ichigo ignores the obvious jeer in his voice.

"Hey, Ulquiorra, since when do we accept retarded pansies in this club?" This time it was the lanky looking guy who speaks as he cranks his neck to look at the shortest male student at the back of the group.

The male student, whose name Ichigo assumes must be Ulquiorra, just stands there looking at him with little to no interest.

"This is not a private club, Nnoitora," he answers him simply. His lifeless eyes are now rest on Ichigo.

"Who the fuck accepted his application?" asks the blue haired student again. He, like his lanky friend, is clearly not happy to see Ichigo. Why, Ichigo is not really sure. He shudders inwardly thinking that Rukia is in the same club as these two bastards. How did she do it?

"Must be Yourichi," says the girl besides the blue haired student, interrupting Ichigo's thought. "I'm Neliel by the w –"

"Why the fuck are you introducing yourself to him?!" bellow Nnoitora and the blue haired student at the same time. The poor girl shrinks slightly and hid behind the tall blonde girl who is looking at the proceeding with a bored expression.

"What the fuck is your problem, man?" asks Ichigo finally, annoyed at their blatant hatred.

"Shut the fuck up, I am not talking to you –"

"Seriously dude, what is your fucking problem? Did my shinai butt rape your asshole or something?" remarks Ichigo with a smirk on his face.

Snorts and giggles echo throughout the dojo. The blue haired student and Nnoitora failed to see what was funny though as they shot murderous glare at the pink haired male student who is still could not help but giggles.

The only other student who does not find that remark funny is Ulquiorra who still looks at Ichigo with his deadpan face.

"Watch your mouth, punk," warns the blue haired student as he takes a step forward. His shinai is in front of him, pointing at Ichigo.

"Grimmjow," calls Ulquiorra. The blue haired male student stops in his track and angrily swirls around to face Ulquiorra. Ichigo is not sure what Grimmjow sees in Ulquiorra emotionless face but whatever it is, it does the trick as Grimmjow throws his shinai to the wooden floor in exasperation.

This seems like a cue for everyone to resume their activities. One by one they walk pass Ichigo.

"Watch your fucking back," cautions Nnoitora as he walks by, chuckling and licking his lips. Ichigo could not help but quivers slightly.

"This ain't fucking over," warns Grimmjow next as he picks up his shinai and walks away.

The only one left standing there is another male student, with his dark hair just as messy as Ichigo, and a bit longer. It looks kinds of like a mullet. Among the other students, he looks like the most normal looking kids in the bunch. He definitely has a pleasant friendly smile as he gives one to Ichigo.

Ichigo does not sure how to react after he had to deal with the insolences earlier. The student chuckles when he sees Ichigo confused face.

"Do not worry about Grimmjow and Nnoitora. They always do this to the new kids," assures him with a big grin plastered on his face.

"You have to go through the same shit too?"

"Hell no! We –" he waves to the rest of the student who are putting on their bōgu set. "We have known each other since kids. Why do you think this club is so unpopular?"

Ichigo is about to tell him why but snap his mouth shut at the realization. The male student's chuckles become an outright laugh when he looks at Ichigo's dumbfounded expression as if he knows exactly what went through Ichigo's mind.

"This ought to be interesting. I guess we just have to see if you will survive this, eh?" he puts his hand across Ichigo's shoulder casually. "I am Kaien and you already met the kitty, the pink, the lanky, the annoying and the emo." He chuckles when Ulquiorra spins around to give him a death glare but he continues on as if it does not give any effect on him although Ichigo can feel him shuddering slightly. "The pink one is Syazel by the way. That is Stark, Hallibel and Weiss."

"Err Kuro –"

"Kurosaki Ichigo. Yeah, yeah, we know," Kaien dismisses Ichigo's introduction with a lazy wave of his hand. Then he let go of Ichigo and left him to join his friends who do not even acknowledge Ichigo as they were being introduced.

How fucking rude.

Now Ichigo really wonders if he had made a mistake about Rukia being part of this club. If she is, how did she manage to survive these assholes? Ichigo is willing to bet that she had it worst. Where is she anyway?

Ichigo sighs.

It just seems so improbable at the moment to picture Rukia among these annoyingly rude students. But just as he is about to walk towards them, he heard a creak behind him and few seconds later, Rukia walks pass him, a shinai on her hand.

However Rukia does not even glance at him. Ichigo is not sure if she does not see him or she chooses to ignore him.

Either way Ichigo still find himself standing there, stiff as a board or as if his feet have been rooted to the wooden floor. He watches as Rukia walks towards Ulquiorra and apologize for her lateness. Ulquiorra just look at her and mumbles something in return, too slow for Ichigo to hear what it was. Whatever he says, it must have been something rather embarrassing since Rukia's cheeks are now flush with a tinge of red as she walks towards the rest of the group.

To Ichigo surprise, they embrace her, even Neliel and Hallibel. She is smiling and laughing at some of the jokes, stupid joked most probably, thought Ichigo, which the guys made. She is even all chummy with Kaien. Ichigo gives a sigh of relieve though when he observes that Rukia is avoiding any sort of physical contact with Nnoitora and not as friendly towards him as she is with the rest of the guys.

"Hey Kurosaki, what are you standing there for?" asks Kaien from across the room as he puts on his helmet.

"Yeah, let see what you are made of!" challenge Syazel with a sickening grin.

Rukia turns when she heard the mention of Ichigo's name. There is a frown etching on her face. In Rukia haste to apologize to Ulquiorra for being late, she did not see Ichigo standing so transfixed at the door, even with his bundle of outrageous orange lock.

Rukia looks at him with curiosity. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo can feel the chill running down his spine. That is the first time she ever said his name after all these years. And he still likes the way it sounds coming from her lips. This is also the first word she ever said to him since he transferred here. About time…

Stark tilts his head. "You know this bum?"

Neliel giggles as she envelopes Rukia petite figure from the back. Half of the back of Rukia head is in Neliel's breast. "Kaien, you forgot to introduce Rukia!"

"No need, we are in the same class," answers Rukia. "However I am not sure why he is not in a golf club or something."

The rest of them chuckles when they heard Rukia's nonchalant remark. Rukia looks at Hallibel questioningly, not sure what the joke is.

"Syazel said the same thing and Nnoitora called him a pansy," explains Hallibel grinning.

Rukia snorts and double with laughter and the others follow suit. Ichigo's face turns crimson. He can not believe that Rukia is making fun of him. Rukia of all people! And here he is, worried about how she managed to survive the abuse from these morons when in truth she is just part of this madness.

But deep down inside, to see Rukia's happy face and her being so at ease with herself is providing him with so much relief, he thinks his heart would burst. Being part of this club is probably one of the rare times that she let her guard down, the other time when she is with Renji. Ichigo has allowed himself to notice that much.

A hard smack to the back of his head makes Ichigo see stars as he comes back to earth, literally! Ichigo turns around to see Weiss with his shinai pointing right in front of his face, only an inch away from his nose.

More laughter and giggles follow and to Ichigo's annoyance, Rukia is one of the loudest. Ichigo does not need to turn around to know that Ulquiorra is not part of the laughing party though.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" fumes Ichigo as he rubs the back of his head.

"You were spacing out."

"Like hell I am –"

"Tsk tsk tsk. Don't lie. It is so unbecoming for a pansy duke such as yourself," tease Syazel.

Ichigo rolls his eyes.

"Dude, we have been calling your name but you just stood there all reminiscing and shit," says Weiss chuckling. His shinai is still hanging in front of Ichigo's face.

Ichigo gives up. There is no winning an argument when you have morons as your opponent. And technically he was reminiscing. Sorta.

Ichigo swats Weiss' shinai away annoyingly but it comes back up.

"Pick your opponent," instructs Weiss. There is no longer a hint of humor in his voice.

Ichigo looks at him as if he is sprouting vegetables from his mouth: a broccoli perhaps. That should go well with his freckled face. Wait, why the fuck is he thinking about vegetables now?

"What opponent?"

SMACK!

Ichigo rubs his forehead and he thinks he can see the bruise that will form soon with his fingers.

"This is a Kendo club, dickhead. Take a guess."

Comes more laughter and giggles.

"In that case," Ichigo turns and point his shinai straight at the giggling Rukia, with a smirk on his face. "I choose her."

That silenced everyone; none of them can believe that such a good luck will be shining down upon them today. It has been a while since they get some decent entertainment around here. Few seconds passed before they are all bawling with laughter. Even Ulquiorra has a smirk on his face.

This time, it is Ichigo who does not get what the joke is.

Rukia is the first one to recover. She walks toward Ichigo and reaches out her hand for a handshake. "It will be a pleasure."

Weiss clasp his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. They both look at the retreating back of Rukia as she starts to get ready for the sparring. Neliel helps her with the bōgu set. "Good luck dude. Rukia is the only person in this room that is on par with Ulquiorra."

"What do you mean?"

Weiss chuckle as he pats Ichigo's back. "You will find out soon enough."

Ichigo gulps.

--

Just like Weiss promised, Ichigo found out what he meant… the hard and painful way.

To say that Rukia has kicked his ass, gloriously, is an understatement. She fucking raped his ass!

Ichigo is humiliated and he sure he will not going to hear the end of it. But somehow he is not angry with the mocking and jeering from the guys. Now he feels like they are just joking around. It is how this group operated. They bonded in a sadistic, twisted sort of way but Ichigo thinks he is starting to get the hang of it.

Miss Yourichi who walks in halfway during Ichigo and Rukia sparring is busy breaking the fight between Syazel and Stark. When she has finally succeeded, Nnoitora comes and smack Stark's head with his shinai. Another fight breaks out and Miss Yourichi shakes her fist in exasperation before letting them have it their way. Nnoitora and Stark finally give up when both of them think they have beaten the other to pulp. As they lay on the wooden floor panting, Weiss comes and kicks Nnoitora's shin. And so the cycle continues.

Neliel comes up to Ichigo with that annoying giggles of hers and explains that this is almost a normal routine for the guys so she hopes Ichigo won't be too freaked out.

Ichigo can tell that Neliel is trying to flirt with him. Ichigo can also tell that Grimmjow probably has some thing going on with her judging by the way he is fuming when he sees her being so chummy with him. So Ichigo says his thanks and quickly distancing himself from her.

Ichigo rest the back of his head on the wall. His body is sore from the sparring and he is sweating like a pig. He closes his eyes. He still could not believe that he has lost to Rukia.

Scratch that, actually he can.

Ichigo smile crookedly when he thinks about her doing the same thing in the past.

"You should not be smiling."

Ichigo smiles wider but keeps his eyes close. He does not have to open his eyes to recognize to whom that voice belongs to.

"I guess you really like your ass kicked huh?"

Rukia throws a clean towel at Ichigo. This makes him open his eyes and look at Rukia who is sitting besides him with the back of her head also resting on the wall.

"I don't but sometimes you just have to appreciate things."

Rukia tilts her head. "Like what?"

Ichigo wipes the sweat on his face with the towel she gave him. He can smell her scent, a bit like rose surrounded by pure white snow. If Rukia is not by his side, Ichigo probably would have inhale few more times but he does not want to portray himself as a pervert. Knowing that she thinks he is some sort of a pansy is already a blow to his ego.

"You really don't remember, do you?" asks Ichigo slowly.

Rukia frown. She sits straight up and faced Ichigo. "Remember what?"

He is about to say something but thinks better of it. "No, it was nothing."

Rukia looks at him suspiciously. "That does not sounds like nothing."

Ichigo ignores Rukia's last remark as he slowly stands up. Man, he is going to need a massage to ease this soreness.

Rukia looks up at the towering Ichigo. She still expecting some sort of explanation from him but instead he pats her head and smiles down at her.

"All in due time Rukia. It is a pleasure to meet you."

This caught Rukia off guard so the pink blushes quickly spread across her cheeks. As Ichigo sees her pink cheeks, he too could not control the blushing that is making his face a shade of red at the moment. He quickly takes his hand off of Rukia's head.

Awkward silence ensues until Ichigo excuses himself, leaving Rukia literally speechless.

Little did Rukia and Ichigo know that Ulquiorra is observing them from a distance.

--

Uruhara is waiting for Ichigo at the school gate. Few minutes later, Ichigo is seating at the back seat of the car. A grin stretches across Uruhara face as he hands over an envelope to Ichigo.

His grin gets even wider when he sees Rukia walks out of the school gate, seemingly in a hurry.

"Do you want to give her a lift, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo who is looking at the content of the envelope raise his head. Anger is clearly visible in his amber eyes.

"No."

Uruhara smirks knowingly as he put the car into first gear.

"As long as you are sure, Kurosaki."

"Just drive, Kisuke."

With a chuckle, Uruhara did just that. He drives pass the running Kuchiki Rukia, who is on her way to her day job. Uruhara can see from the rear view mirror how tensed up Ichigo was when they passed her and this time a genuine smile plays on his lips.

* * *

Read and Review!

Extra note:

keikogi – a jacket that is worn under the bōgu set

shinai – a bamboo sword.

bōgu set - traditional Japanese clothing and armour for Kendo practice.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: I caught a very bad fever for couple of weeks. I am still recovering from it -__-. That is the reason for the delayed update. I am making it up with slightly longer chapter than usual. Enjoy and thanks for coming back.

**Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Much love! **

Disclaimer: I don't use big word and I don't own Bleach

* * *

It has been almost two weeks since Ichigo's first Kendo practice. They have had two more Kendo practices after that.

Ichigo is fuming. He cannot understand why Rukia is still so distance with him even after she royally whooped his ass every time they sparred. She is totally a different person outside the dojo.

Ichigo does not know what frustrated him more. She acting like she normally is, which is to keep everything to herself, or the fact that he does not have the courage to confront her.

He has tried to strike a conversation with her but she always managed to disappear within seconds after she reply to his queries. Is she avoiding him or is he being a paranoid?

He finds his eyes once again wander towards the small back of Rukia. What the teacher is trying to teach is no longer a precedence.

After he saw the findings from Uruhara Kisuke's investigation, Ichigo could not stop thinking about her and every time her face resurfaces into his memory, he is consumed with rage. It is an ordeal to see her everyday at school and not being able to do anything. He still can not believe that he has yet to loose his patience and resort to meet her head-on whether at school, her work place or her home but Ichigo does not want her to question his method of finding out about her personal info. She does not advertise her workplaces or her home. Ichigo would not blame her. These savage girls will do anything and go to any length to make her life miserable. Just the other day, he bears witness to it.

It was during lunch break. Rukia was once again skipping her lunch and Ichigo could not help but feeling bad about it. He has excused himself from Renji and the others, proceed to bought two slices of cake and a cup of the finesse coffee, and went back to the classroom to give them to Rukia.

Ichigo stopped short when he was few steps away from the classroom. He could hear strained voices coming from it. He took a peek to see if Rukia was still in there. If she is not, he would walk away.

His heart sank to his stomach when he saw Rukia was actually the subject of abuse. There were three girls circling her desk, made it impossible for her to get away. The girls were cursing her and calling her names. She just sat there looking bored, as if the same occurrences happened to her everyday. None of them saw Ichigo standing in the hallway.

"Just because you are with that bunch of freaks you think you can get away with anything?!"

"We'll bring this matter up with the Student Council. Just you wait and see."

Rukia was sneering at this warning.

"Bitch! Don't mock us –"

This time Rukia did a full out snicker. The girl in the middle raised her hand to bitch slap Rukia. Ichigo saw what happened afterwards in slow motion.

Rukia stood and grabbed that girl's hand before it can land on her cheek; she then pushed the girl towards the other girl who was standing besides her. This sent both of them reeling to the floor, screaming in pain. The third girl who was dumbfounded at the turn of event, stood aghast.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ichigo asked demanding an explanation. He knew that he needed to stop this before it become worse. All the girls jumped when they heard Ichigo's voice, including Rukia.

When the three girls saw Ichigo, they quickly wailed. Rukia rolled her eyes.

"She pushed me," says one of the girls as she pointed at Rukia. Ichigo recognized all three of them but did not know their names. Ichigo made a mental note to try and remember his classmates' names one of these days…

"Why would she push you?" Ichigo asked faking his ignorance as he walked towards them.

"I offered to buy her l-lunch but she pushed me f-for no reason," the girl said, faking her sobbing.

"She's a freak," added the girl who was standing.

Ichigo felt disgusted by the blatant lie. He looked at Rukia, expecting her to say something to defend herself or refute the fib but she just looked at the girls who were still on the floor, once again with her bored expression.

Noticing that Ichigo was waiting for her to say something, Rukia shrugged.

"It was like what they told," said Rukia nonchalantly. The three girls smiled satisfactorily. They must have thought that Rukia was taking their warning seriously when in all truth, Rukia just wanted to resume doing her homework and get this little drama done and over with. She has more important things in her mind.

Besides, Rukia was not sure how much Ichigo have heard. What Ichigo didn't know was these girls were coming hard on her because they heard about her kicking Ichigo's butt in Kendo. They were blabbering about how Ichigo was taking a pity on her and allowed her kicked his butt. Rukia almost laugh out loud but knowing these girls, that was not a smart move so she kept her wits and let them say whatever they wanted to say. She has been in this situation for so many times before it was hardly intimidating anymore. Clearly they were not a fan of the rest of the Kendo club members since they were calling them names and what not. It did not bother Rukia at all. Those kids happened to be her best friends. Just like her, they do not give a rat ass of what others think of them, especially if it is coming from these superficial girls.

Ichigo could not believe what he was hearing. How can Rukia take their abuses just like that? Just as he was about to retort something, one of the girls who was on the floor called his name.

"Kurosaki-kun"

"What?!" Ichigo snapped. The three girls cringed.

Blame his upbringing but Ichigo could not turned his back away from someone who was in distress and since Rukia did not show any kind of distress, Ichigo just had to be a gentleman and help the girls out even though it was clear as day that they were faking it.

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" asked Ichigo again, this time with a fake smile on his lips and no frown. He bent down and helped the girls up.

The girls beamed at the contact. "We are fine now that you're here."

Ichigo felt like puking.

"I guess I should escort you ladies to the café then?" Although his back was towards Rukia, he could felt her rolling her eyes.

The girls squealed in delight and quickly latched on Ichigo's arms. They would not pass this rare opportunity.

"Can you girls wait for me outside? I need to grab something from my desk," said Ichigo. Truthfully he just wanted to talk to Rukia for a second. The girls did not question him and merrily walked out of the classroom.

"Why are you being such a fool?" asked Ichigo to Rukia once the girls were not in sight.

"Why are you being such a fake?"

"Touché!"

Rukia gritted her teeth.

"I saw what exactly happened, Rukia."

"Peeping tom"

Ichigo facepalmed. Knowing that he was going to be defeated in this battle of wittiness; he surrendered by putting the cake and the coffee down on Rukia's table. "Eat these."

Rukia who was already on her seat just looked incredulously at Ichigo. "Why?"

"In order to _grow_ you need to eat," Ichigo said casually as he started to walk out of the classroom to fulfill his promise. He saw Rukia's ears went red when she heard his remark and he silently chuckled.

But when he came back from the café with Renji and the others, he saw the cakes and the coffee were on his table, untouched. Rukia refused to acknowledge his presence ever since then.

Keigo's wailing snaps Ichigo out of his thoughts and back to the class. Rukia is no longer seated in front of him and half of the class has already heads out. Apparently the bell that indicates that the school day is over rang few minutes ago.

"Gets your ass moving Kurosaki. Jeez, you have got to stop with the spacing out," says Renji.

"Yeah you are making it hard for Ishida," adds Keigo.

"Huh?"

"His beloved Inoue does that a lot too. If you are not careful, you are going to be his rebound guy."

"Shut up, Ikkaku," says Ishida annoyingly but he is blushing nonetheless.

They all chuckle at the joke while Ichigo smiles wearily. He is not in the mood for stupid gay joke at the moment. He also thinks that the gay joke is getting old. People might get the wrong impression about the way he swings.

"You okay, Ichigo?" asks Mizuno. The concern in his voice is apparent.

Ichigo sighs. "Yeah I am okay," says Ichigo half heartedly. He puts his books in his bag.

The others look at one another, knowing for certain that there is definitely something that is bugging their friend's mind. However they are not going to force it out of him. If he refuses to talk about it, they have no option but to respect his decision.

"If you say so," says Yumichika, defeated.

"I do say so."

Silence.

Ishida cough and grabs his bag. The other follow suit.

"Ready to go?"

"I have Kendo practice," says Ichigo.

"Oh man! I thought we all agreed to go to the city today!" whines Keigo.

The rest of them shake their heads, clearly disappointed. Ichigo smiles apologetically. He starts walking out of the class and the others tag on.

"I do not get it. Why did you pick that club? I mean, we are all in the golf club, why didn't you join us?" asks Renji curiously as he catches up to Ichigo.

"Could it be that Ichigo does not want to be with us?" gasps Keigo teary eyes, jumping to conclusion as usual.

"Shut up, Keigo. It was just something that I like to do, alright? Get over it."

"You sure that is the only reason?" teases Yumichika as he winks knowingly at Ichigo.

"What other reason would I have?" grumbles Ichigo.

"Oh I don't know…" says Ikkaku. "Maybe it is got something to do with… one of the girls? Have you seen them? I mean their boobs are this _big_!" Ikkaku makes an exaggerated round circle with his hands. The boys laugh.

"I didn't know you like them big size, Ichigo," says Mizuno between his chuckles.

Ichigo rolls his eyes but inwardly he has to agree. Those girls seriously have bigger boobs than most of the girls in this school. Even Miss Yourichi has boobs comparable to those of Halibel and Nel. So Rukia does not really fit in if you think about it. Ichigo wonders what makes them, including the boys, so close to Rukia. Maybe the male members have fetishes for girls with smaller boobs? Is that why Rukia was accepted? Ichigo shudders at his own thoughts and prays to god that it is not the case, it just him over thinking things.

"Hey Kurosaki! You are spacing out again!" calls Ishida as he waves his hand in front of Ichigo's face to get his attention.

"Seriously Kurosaki, you should have your head check. All those butt whooping done by Rukia must have damaged your brain."

Ichigo's face turns red at Renji's remark while the others are basking the moment, laughing their asses off. Rukia must have told Renji about it. Damn it.

"Oh yeah we heard about that. Man, if you want to join a club at least makes sure you are good at it."

"I am. Rukia is just better at it than me."

"I still don't get it why you let yourself being bullied by those guys"

"I heard no one ever lasted more than two weeks after they joined –"

"Except Rukia," interrupts Sado who finally decides to join in the conversation.

"Where did you hear all these craps from?" asks Ichigo.

"So you mean, you _did_ _not_ get your ass kicked by the rest of the guys? Not even by Nnoitora?"

"Well…"

"You two close?" asks Renji all of the sudden before Ichigo has the chance to reply to Ishida's question.

"Huh?" asks Ichigo bewildered. His friends sure have a lot of questions today; more than what he considered normal.

"You and Rukia… Are you close?"

"If you think getting my ass kicked every time we do sparring make us closer, then I suppose we are," replies Ichigo nonchalantly.

Ishida, Mizuno, Keigo and Sado burst out laughing. "Jeez, you really are sucks at Kendo, don't you?"

Ichigo rolls his eyes.

Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika however, look at each other, knowing exactly what the others are thinking. They have observed Ichigo more closely since he joined the Kendo club. They have their suspicion but nothing to conform it until Rukia told Renji about the incident that happened the other day. Renji quickly confided in Ikkaku and Yumichika since they are in this together. The look only lasted about two seconds and the only person who caught the exchanged is Sado but he does not think anything distrustful about it so he soon forgets.

"Stay away from her, Kurosaki," warns Renji as he pats Ichigo's shoulder. "She is untouchable."

"Says who?" asks Ichigo skeptically. He does not like what he is hearing. What right does Renji has to control who should or should not be friends with Rukia? Why is he prying?

"Didn't you see the guys she hangs out with?" replies Renji but Ichigo get this feeling that Renji is not laying everything on the table. Or it could be that his paranoia is working on full time again…

_Wait what? Rukia hangs out?!!_

"She hangs out?! I thought she does not have time for that?"

Ishida, Keigo and Mizuno do a facepalm.

"Kuchiki-san is a teenage girl, Ichigo. Of course she _hangs out_."

Ichigo scowls. The files did not mention anything about her hanging out with friends. The files specifically said she does not have any sort of social life. How can Uruhara Kisuke miss out on something important like this?

_Dammit Kisuke. Are you playing games?_

"I... I got to go. Later," Ichigo excuses himself before the other guys manage to say something in return. They look at the retreating back of Ichigo who is walking with both of his hands in his pocket, stomping his feet all the way to the dojo.

"That guy has such an awful mood swing," retorts Mizuno.

"Yeah, worse than my grandmother," Keigo agrees.

"Fuck you Keigo! Now I have an image of an old hag wearing a tampon in my head!" wails Ikkaku as he tackles Keigo to the ground. The rest of them could not help but laugh.

--

Rukia and Syazel are preparing themselves with their bōgu set. The others have scatter around the dojo; they are either doing stretching, practicing or preparing their own bōgu set. Nnoitora and Halibel are already sparring and Hallibel is kicking Nnoitora's scrawny butt. The dojo is already noisy from the kiai and fumikomi-ashi that originate from the kendōka.

The only member of the club who has not shown up yet is Ichigo and apparently Rukia is not the only one who notices this.

"You think Kurosaki quit the club already, Rukia?" inquire Syazel as he helps Rukia putting on her gauntlet. Rukia, according to Syazel's sharp observation, is quieter than usual.

Rukia shrugs. She bends down and picks up her shinai. After that she walks to the center of the dojo and starts practicing her strikes. Syazel looks at her with concerned.

"What the fuck is up with her?" asks Grimmjow as he poke Syazel's back with his shinai.

"How the hell should I know?"

"Tch. You are good for nothing Syazel."

"I can say the same about you, Grimmjow."

Grimmjow smacks his shinai on Syazel's head and laughs his ass off when Syazel starts to rubs his and his face turns as pink as his hair. "What the fuck, Grimmjow!"

"Oh man up, Syazel," says Stark lazily as he walks pass the whining Syazel. He takes off his helmet, picks a spot and plops down. Weiss who was practicing with Stark earlier joins them. His eyes are on Rukia.

"You notice it too?" asks Kaien who walks over to them and is closely followed by Nel. It seems like everyone has notice Rukia's odd behavior. Even Nnoitora and Hallibel could not concentrate on their sparring. They decide to end it quickly with sonkyo and hurriedly walk over to join the rest of the crew. The only other person with Rukia out there is Ulquiorra who is observing Rukia's practice and correcting her mistakes as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

"I guess what happened the other day really affected her, eh?" says Weiss as he wipes his sweat with a towel.

Within few hours after the incident happened, everyone at the school already knew about it. Of course what they heard was totally the screwed up version; Rukia being a bitch, harassed them and then came their knight in shining armor who scooped them in his arms and all that shit. The only people who knew the truth of exactly what happened are Rukia, Ichigo, Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika.

So everyone including the Kendo club members think that Rukia was hurt with how Ichigo acted under that circumstance. To have him believed three strangers instead of his sparring partner is quite unforgivable. They all kind of have a silent agreement that whenever there is a betrayal by a fellow kendōka, his membership will be terminated.

However, despite what everyone thinks, Rukia is not mad at Ichigo because he chose to believe what the girls said. She is angry at him because he has the audacity to make some sort of crack about her height. No one ever get away with it. She is not going to start being compassionate now. So she found herself looking forward more than usual to attend the Kendo club today. She will definitely settle the score with him the way she knows how. The only problem is he has not shown up yet! That coward! He better show up or he will find more than her shinai up his orifice.

"I say we teach that bastard a lesson," suggests Nnoitora who is always up for a fight, either with a shinai or with his fist.

"I don't think that will sit well with Rukia," objects Hallibel.

"Or Ulquiorra," adds Kaien.

The rest of them nod knowingly except for Nnoitora and Grimmjow who think this is their best chance to beat up Ichigo. But even they know very well not to mess around when it concerns Ulquiorra.

They are in silence contemplation when Miss Yourichi walks in. She is quite surprise to see her students being so quiet.

"What is up?" she asks as she comes up to the rest of her students who are watching Rukia practices.

"See for youself," replies Hallibel. Miss Yourichi takes a look at Rukia and immediately knew something is bothering that petit girl.

"Because of the rumor?" she guesses. They nod.

Miss Yourichi tilts her head. "This does not seem like Rukia. She never let some petty rumor to get to her head,"

"Must have something to do with Kurosaki," says Weiss.

"Speak of the devil…"

Ichigo walks in, making quite a racket when he trip on his shinai which consequently caused him to fall forward on the wooden floor.

Grimmjow and Nnoitora walk up to him.

Ichigo is already annoyed. He does not need this right now. He could not get a hold on Kisuke. That old man did not answer his calls. Ichigo wonders if Kisuke did it on purpose and that pissed him off.

"What?" Ichigo asks irritatingly as he helps himself up.

"Your membership has been denied. Get the hell out, fucker –"

"What?!" Ichigo cannot believe this. What did he do –

"You heard him. Give us a reason not to fuck you up right now…" says Grimmjow, cracking his knuckles.

Ichigo looks at the rest of the club members. They all look at him with a mix of detestation and disappointment in their eyes. Miss Yourichi avoids looking at him at all and none of them show any sign of denying what Grimmjow and Nnoitora have said.

Wait… where are Ulquiorra and Rukia? Is it not Ulquiorra who will make such a decision?

His eyes search for the two figures and found them in the middle of the dojo. They must have been practicing. Ichigo is not surprise to see Rukia's back against him. Obviously she is still ignoring him and pretends that she did not hear or see anything.

"What the hell is going on, Ulquiorra?" asks Ichigo as he takes a step forward but he is quickly block by Grimmjow and Nnoitora.

Ulquiorra looks at Ichigo with those cold eyes of his. Ichigo can feel everyone tense up waiting for his reply. You can cut the tension with a butter knife. After several seconds, Ulquiorra looks at Rukia who is standing in front of him.

"Let me have him," insists Rukia, communicating with Ulquiorra what she desires using only her eyes. He can see how much Rukia want to beat the crap out of Ichigo. He is not clear the reason of it but he needs to act responsibly so Ulquiorra shakes his head refusing Rukia's demand. He puts a hand on Rukia's shoulder and squeeze it gently when Rukia is about to protest. Then he walks up to Ichigo. Grimmjow and Nnoitora step aside.

"They were in a mood for a joke," says Ulquiorra. "Although I must say that it lacks the humor." Ulquiorra shot a glare towards the two most mischievous members of his club. Grimmjow and Nnoitora could not believe what they just heard. Everyone else is astonished at Ulquiorra's words too but before any of them can object, Ulquiorra swings his shinai in front of Ichigo, barely missing his nose.

"Pick up your shinai, Kurosaki," instructs Ulquiorra. "We are going to do Shiai-geiko. Hallibel, Kaien and Miss Yourichi will be the shinpan."

When everyone heard this, a satisfied smile creeps up on their lips. Hallibel, Kaien and Miss Yourichi take up the flags readily.

Rukia has the widest smile of them all and for the first time in days she looks at Ichigo with glints in her eyes. Judging from everyone reactions, Ichigo can pretty much tell that things are not going to end well for him. He is even more puzzled when Rukia comes up to him and offers to help him with his bōgu, much to the surprise of everyone inside the dojo. Luckily they recognize the devilish smirk on Rukia's lips.

"Rukia… what is going on here?" whispers Ichigo confusedly when Rukia hands him his helmet.

Rukia sneers but does not say a word.

This only makes Ichigo scratches the back of his helmet, even more befuddled than he is before.

_Let see… first Rukia was ignoring him, and then he almost get kick out from this club for no apparent reason, after that Rukia is alright with him? and now he found himself in front of Ulquiorra; supposedly the best __kendōka__ in this part of the country. Did he accidentally step on the devil's toe or something?_

Ichigo takes a deep breath and grips his shinai unnecessarily tight hoping it could transform into another weapon or at least provides him with a power boost.

He is not going to lie.

His knees are fucking shaking when he sees the imposing figure of Ulquiorra standing there waiting for him. Weiss has just finished helping him out with his bōgu and is handing him the helmet.

Ichigo takes a step towards the arena.

It is only a flicker but Ichigo is certain he saw Ulquiorra smile before he puts on his helmet. It is not the typical smile where you moves your lips (Ichigo does not think Ulquiorra is capable of such a feat), but he smiles with his eyes. His cold green eyes are suddenly iridescent with life as he looks at Rukia. It was only for couple of seconds which makes Ichigo wonders if his fear for his opponent is making him hallucinates but when he sees Rukia turns to shades of pink, he knows he is not imagining it.

With that comes a feeling akin to wrath. He thinks he is being a bit obsessive or even territorial but at the moment he could not care less.

His fear disappears.

Ichigo steps into the arena with a new courage. He grits his teeth and waits for Ulquiorra's assault as their kiai echo through every crooks and nooks of the dojo.

* * *

Read and Review! Please and thank you!

Extra note:

kendōka – one who practices kendo

kiai – kendoka used a shout to express their fighting spirit when striking

fumikomi-ashi - a stomp of the front foot, when making a strike

sonkyo – an act of respect perform by the kendoka after each combat

Shiai-geiko - competition practice which may also be judged

Shinpan - referee


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't use big word and I don't own Bleach

* * *

Ichigo is still confused as he tries to figure out what exactly had happened.

He had lost to Ulquiorra. It was a merciless and humiliating defeat. To think that his wrath will gave him a power boost was stupid. His territorial instinct did nothing to help him to even get a point. He knew now why everyone else except Rukia refused to spar with Ulquiorra. That guy is too damn serious and too damn good at Kendo.

And now he finds himself driving his Jeep with Grimmjow, Syazel and Kaien as his companions. Neliel, Weiss, Hallibel and Nnoitora are in Stark's car. Ulquiorra is driving alone since everyone knows he likes it that way. The only person who is not with them is Rukia who had to leave early for her part time job. Miss Yourichi has excused herself when they dispersed.

According to Grimmjow, they are heading to a maid café. Apparently this has become part of the Kendo club activity. Neliel hinted that this can be considered as a ceremonious welcome to him as part of the Kendo club crew. In other words, they have officially accepted him as part of their club. Ichigo is not sure what he has done right but apparently he has got the approval that he did not know he seeks; even from Grimmjow and Nnoitora.

After his defeat to Ulquiorra, everyone kept their distance when he plopped down at the side, pretty much exhausted and sweating like a pig. None came to offer words of condolences for being so pathetic at Kendo. That was until Rukia approached him and squatted down besides him. She handed him a towel and Ichigo took it gratefully.

"Next time, think twice before you decided to make fun of my height," she said smugly. The tired Ichigo was stunned and can only stare at Rukia.

When the others heard this, it dawned on them what exactly Ichigo had done that teed Rukia off so badly and they burst out laughing their asses off. The mystery has been solved. They should have known. Now they felt sympathy for Ichigo for having to face Ulquiorra's wrath for such a stupid mistake.

Rukia grinned idiotically as she rubbed the back of her head. She then asked for everyone forgiveness if she had made them worried needlessly. After that, she stood up and ruffled Ichigo's hair.

"I apologize for making you went through hell with Ulquiorra," she said as she extended her hand towards him. Ichigo grasped her hand carefully, thinking that she might have more tricks under her sleeves. Instead Rukia just smiled and hoisted him up.

"Respect my individuality like I respect your obnoxious orange head. Do that and we are all good," whispered Rukia before she let go of his hand.

"Wait Rukia… are you telling me that was the only reason why you were ignoring me? Because I tell you to eat so you can _grow up_ faster?" asked Ichigo stupidly, ignoring her jabbed about his hair color.

Rukia who was about to walk away stopped in her track. Ichigo immediately noticed the bristle of her hair. In the corner of his eyes he saw the others facepalmed while few others especially Grimmjow and Nnoitora were bawling over with laughter. Ulquiorra stopped doing whatever he was doing and looked at Ichigo with a slight amusement in his emerald eyes.

Before Ichigo could blink, he was doubled over from the pain of being punched in the stomach by none other than the fuming petit girl in from of him. Ichigo thought he can see red aura flowing around her if he squint his eyes hard enough.

Apparently Rukia was far from done. She walked to Ichigo who was doubling over on the floor and kicked his shin.

"What the fuck, Rukia!"

She squatted down once again next to Ichigo who was red in the face from the pain. Ichigo squirmed slightly afraid that she might throw him another blow.

"Just remember that I don't need to be _fully grown _to kick your ass."

Ichigo cursed under his breath as he saw Rukia smiled arrogantly at him.

Kaien was the first to come to his aid. His good-natured smile was once again an ornament to his handsome face. To Ichigo however, the smile looked like he was mocking him. Clearly he was hiding his chuckles. Grimmjow and Nnoitora were grinning from ear to ear as they proudly patted Rukia's back, congratulating her for "teaching him a lesson" as they put it.

"You were asking for it, dude," chuckled Kaien and Ichigo hate to admit it but he knew Kaien was right. However, as sadistic as it may be, he was actually grateful. This was how it was back then too. She always managed to get the upper hand whenever they were having a skirmish.

"Hey Rukia!" he called out to her as he stood up with the help of Kaien. Rukia turned to shot daggers at him. Ichigo wanted to try something, to see if she remembered the phrase. "This is just part of the exercise!"

There was confusion in her face as if she recalled something but she quickly got her wit back. "Yeah, obviously you are in dire need of it!"

This time around, everyone was chuckling except of course for Ulquiorra who had gone back to do whatever he was doing earlier. Rukia stuck her tongue out at Ichigo, obviously savoring the moment. Ichigo scowled but the truth is he was beaming inside.

Rukia took her leave after that, rushing to get to her part time job while Ichigo was awkwardly being dragged by the boys to the shower room. There was when they revealed to him about their usual after Kendou activity whenever they have practice on Tuesday and how it was mandatory and all that shit.

The rest of the Kendou club members gathered at the parking lot after they were all refreshed and ready to go. Ichigo had tried worming his way out but failed at making up a valid excuse. Grimmjow then casually told him that they will be riding with him as if he did not want to kill Ichigo just two hours earlier.

"What about your cars?"

"I will get my driver to pick it up later. Just hurry the fuck up will you?" Grimmjow quickly jumped on the front seat right after Ichigo unlocked his Jeep. He sighed in defeat. Syazel and Kaien grinned and hopped in as well as if they were buddies long before this.

So here he is tailing the car of Stark and Ulquiorra.

Yep, today is definitely has been one of the weirdest day in his life so far. There is no doubt in his mind that it will only get weirder especially considering where he is heading to right now. His dad would have been proud.

Needless to say, Ichigo rather be anywhere else right now than driving his Jeep with Grimmjow in the seat next to him. He glances at his watch impatiently. He needs to settle some scores with Kisuke as soon as possible but instead he finds himself being haul to a maid café so the rest of these buffoons can gawk at some girls wearing maid outfits.

"You know we ain't being serious about wanting to fuck you up, right?" asks Grimmjow absentmindedly as he switches on the radio and starts to browse the channels. Ichigo does not respond. He definitely knows Grimmjow and Nnoitora will not give him a second thought if it is about pummeling his face to the ground. When Ichigo does not react to his words, Grimmjow laugh out loud. The blue haired guy is perfectly aware that Ichigo is not dumb enough to buy his obvious lie. Ichigo can hear chuckles coming from the back seat as well. His grip on his steering wheel tightens as he grits his teeth, completely irritated.

They ride in silence once the laughter dies down but the quiet bliss does not last long, much to Ichigo's dismay.

Syazel coughs.

Ichigo pretends not to notice.

Kaien is the next one to have a coughing fit.

Ichigo glances through his rear-view mirror and sees Kaien smirking at him. Ichigo ignores him.

Then Grimmjow joins in. He does not stop coughing until he gets reaction from Ichigo.

"For fuck sake, what the fuck is wrong with you guys?!" Ichigo gives up.

Grimmjow is grinning maliciously while Syazel leans forward and is hugging Grimmjow's seat. The reason the three of them want to ride with Ichigo is to find out exactly what had happened that makes Ichigo the target of Rukia's wrath. When Ichigo heard the questions asked, he rolls his eyes in annoyance but he tells them what had occurred anyway, simply because he knows they will not shut up until they get the information they need.

"You sure you did not scooped those girls into your arms?" asks Syazel.

"I did not, okay?!" denies Ichigo for the third time.

"Did you really say _that_ to Rukia though?" inquires Kaien disbelievingly.

Ichigo sighs for the umpteenth times. Grimmjow, Kaien and Syazel burst out laughing.

"You have no fucking idea, do you?" Grimmjow pat Ichigo's shoulder sympathetically.

"Is she really that sensitive?"

"Only when it comes to her height," explains Syazel, still chuckling to his heart content.

"Err…" Ichigo contemplates whether or not he should ask some of the questions that have been bugging his mind as of late especially after knowing that Kisuke is playing the mind game he likes so much.

Grimmjow, Syazel and Kaien wait for Ichigo to continue but only silence greets them for the next couple of minute. "What?!" implores Grimmjow impatiently when he sees Ichigo fidgeting in his seat.

"I did not get it. Why didn't she defend herself?" blurts Ichigo.

"I thought you said she pushed those girls?" asks Kaien as he leans forward, puzzled by Ichigo's question.

"Not physically. I mean… she could have denied what the girl accused her for."

"What good would it be?" Syazel leans back and crosses his hand in front of his chest. He looks outside the window, reflecting what Ichigo just said. The same thought occurred in all their minds when Ichigo told them the truth of what had happened however, each of them are aware the position Rukia is in.

"At least I would have known the truth," says Ichigo as he turns to the left, following Ulquiorra's lead.

"But you _did_ know the truth –"

"Yeah but what if I had not stumbled in their conversation? What if I was not there?"

Grimmjow shakes his head in exasperation. "You just did not get it –"

"Get what?"

"It would not make a difference. People will believe what they chose to believe. Most of them believe that Rukia is rotten to the bone. Some people, like we are, believe that she did the things she did because she was forced to or provoked. I am sure you have heard the kind of rumors that surrounded her," explains Kaien as he looks at Ichigo through the rear-view mirror. When he sees Ichigo's grim expression, he continues. "You are one of the most powerful students in the school due to your position in the social hierarchy. If you do not like it, why don't you change it?"

Ichigo is lost for words. His brain starts to calculate of the options. The other passengers let Kaien words sink in while the radio is playing some old rock music to fill in the silence.

"You guys are close…" Ichigo mumbles his thought out loud. It is more of a statement than a question.

The three of them look at Ichigo incredulously. "Of course we are. We have known each other since pre-school –"

"No. I mean with Rukia."

Grimmjow facepalms. He turns in his seat to address Kaien at the back seat. "Dude, fuck my cats if I'm wrong, but don't you think he is fucking stalking Rukia?"

"I am not!" denies Ichigo.

"Then why the fuck are all your questions ended up being about her –"

"Yeah man, I have always suspected your motive for joining the club. You are worst than Neliel at kendo –"

"Furthermore, aren't your friends who you usually hang out with in the golf club?"

Ichigo mentally cursed himself. "Golf is not my thing and I am not that bad at kendo –"

Grimmjow and Syazel snicker and roll their eyes.

Ignoring them, Ichigo continues. "Look, I am just pissed that she is acting up. We get along just fine during kendo practices but once we step outside the dojo, she never said a word to me. I sit behind her in class for fuck sake and yet she completely ignores my existence. Why does she have to put her guard up like that?" asks Ichigo, secretly congratulating himself for coming up with such brilliant excuses.

"Are you really that fucking dumb, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow shakes his head. It is Kaien's turn to do the facepalm while Syazel chuckles.

Ichigo's jaw tightens. What did he say wrong now?

"Every bitch in the school is flocking to get in your pants, Kurosaki. Do the math of what might happen if she acts all chummy with you," Kaien rationalizes.

Ichigo scoffs. "You guys talk as if you do not have bitches lining up behind your butts. What happened to the 'don't give a fuck' attitude?"

Grimmjow smacks Ichigo's head and the car swerves a little.

"What the fuck, Grimmjow! I am driving!"

"That should clear your fucking useless head."

Ichigo growls at Grimmjow but the said man ignores him and pumps up the volume of the radio. Ichigo can immediately feel the tension inside his jeep. He must have said something tactless again.

After a few more blocks of silence, Syazel gestures Ichigo to turn to the right as Stark's car pull to a gentle stop in front of black and white building. Ulquiorra parks his car in front of the entrance and Ichigo take the parking lot besides it. He looks around curiously since their cars are the only one occupying the parking lot.

Syazel is the first one to get off followed by Kaien. Ichigo look incredulously at Grimmjow who is in his seat even after Ichigo switches off the engine.

"You ain't coming?"

Grimmjow shifts in his seat so he is facing Ichigo now. "Rukia is not like us. For average people like her, perseverance is everything. That does not mean that she will take whatever shit throws at her with her hands resting behind her back."

Ichigo stiffens. This is truly unexpected. Of all people, Ichigo did not expect to hear these protective words from Grimmjow.

"Stay away from her," warns Grimmjow with the most menacing voice Ichigo had ever heard. Grimmjow looks at Ichigo straight in the eyes to tell him that he is not joking around and after several seconds, he finally takes his leave.

Ichigo let out the breath that he did not know he was holding.

Damn it! This is the second time today that he was told to stay away from Rukia. He fishes out his cell phone to call Kisuke but before he can do so, a knock at his window startles him and makes him jumps. It was Ulquiorra who is standing outside with his usual solemn expression. Ichigo who understand the cue quickly gets of his Jeep to join the others.

For now, the mysteries just have to wait.

--

Uruhara Kisuke smirked when he saw Ichigo's name appeared on his cell phone screen. He could imagine Ichigo's scowl getting deeper with every ring that passed by unanswered.

Uruhara loves his job as Ichigo most trusted man. He does everything for the Kurosaki's heir. He loves his job even more when he has the opportunity to play some mind games with his young master. He does not like to give everything that Ichigo had asked for. He likes to withhold some of the information and let Ichigo put the pieces of puzzle together. He of course will assist him every step of the way. It is far more fulfilling that way, far more rewarding.

After all, he is dealing with human's lives. Such delicacy is requisite.

* * *

Not the best chapter. Half of my brain is dead due to me being sick. Again :(

Read and Review!


	6. Chapter 6

If you read my other fics, you will know why the update came this late. If you don't, _why the hell not?! _

Disclaimer: I don't use big word and I don't own Bleach

* * *

Ichigo follows the others into the café. He stop short in front of the double doors where the "closed" sign is hang.

"Hey, it says here this café is close," informs Ichigo as he points to the sign. Nnoitora who is behind him pushes him aside.

"100 points for reading that right!" says Nnoitora sarcastically as he steps inside leaving Ichigo grumbling at the door. Two girls appear before him giggling. One is a red head with boobs as big if not bigger than Nel or Hallibel while the other one is kind of tomboyish female with short black hair. Ichigo must admit that these girls really do look cute in their French maid outfits. Before he can say anything further, the girls each take his arms and lead him to the others who are already seated comfortably at a two different tables.

Syazel, Kaien, Hallibel, Weiss and Stark occupy one table while Grimmjow, Nnoitora, and Nel occupy the other table besides it. Ichigo eyes quickly search for Ulquiorra. The raven haired guy is nowhere to be seen although he is among the first to get inside the cafe.

To Ichigo dismay, the two girls drag him to the table where Nnoitora is and force him to seat next to Grimmjow since it is the only seat available between the two tables. Ichigo eyes Grimmjow suspiciously but the blue haired teen does not even spare a glance at his direction. He is busy looking at the menu presented by the two girls.

Ichigo looks around. Besides them, as he expected, the rest of the café is empty. There are only four maid girls who are at the moment taking orders, two for each table. By the look of it, they are not kidding about being regular customers of this place seeing that they address the girls on first name basis and the girls are comfortable enough around them, even with Nnoitora. In fact the girl with the boobs seems to fit right in with the guys.

Apparently even placing orders are a chore for these guys as they bicker of what to order and at the same time flirting with the maid girls. Even the quiet Hallibel and Stark talk more than Ichigo has ever seen them talking. However the four girls only have eyes for the new guy.

"What a handsome he is!" squeals the girl with the boobs who dragged him inside earlier. The guys called her by the name of Rangiku. Her boobs are almost hanging out of her maid outfit dress. Ichigo has to look away when he is being addressed so he does not have to stare at her chest.

"I would not have thought that I see the day this group added a new member," joins the tomboyish looking girl who is called Tatsuki.

"It is all thanks to Rukia-chan!" exclaims Nel as she claps her hands together with glee. Her boobs jingle. Ichigo has to look away again but he perks up at the mention of Rukia's name. Kaien and Grimmjow exchange a knowing look.

All four of the maid girls tilt their heads in unison.

Ichigo wonders how on earth these girls get to know Rukia. He is sure that they are not from their school since he never saw any of them and they do not seem to know him either.

"Rukia?" asks one of the two girls who are waiting the next table. She wears glasses and gives an air of importance. One look at her you would have thought that she is at a wrong place because she comes across as a librarian type which is indeed her silent allure.

"Yes indeed, Nanao-chan. Rukia kind of help Ichigo blends in with us," explains Nel, patting Ichigo hands from across the table. The four girls frown, not really understand what Nel means even though they are used to her blabbering. They look at the rest of them expectantly, waiting for further explanation.

"She made Ulquiorra whipped his ass," informs Nnoitora while chuckling. Grimmjow, Weiss and Syazel are quick to join in the laugh.

"Ah of course!" cries Rangiku expressively. Nnoitora's answer seemingly explains a lot since the girls giggle and laugh sympathetically at him.

Ichigo could feel his face redden. He is not sure that he deserved the sympathy but from his understanding it appears that getting your ass kicked by Ulquiorra deemed you to be an official member of the Kendo Club. And somehow that has to do with Rukia? Go figure.

By the way, just to be clear, being the new guy sucks big time.

"What did he do?" questions Tatsuki.

"He called her –"

"He called me _what_, Weiss?" interrupts Rukia, daring the freckled face teen to continue with his sentence but Weiss does not have to. There is only one word that Rukia is extremely sensitive about and that word must have something to do with her height. The four maid girls giggle knowingly even though they receive an angry glare from Rukia.

Rukia places the bowls of chips that she carries down on both tables. "Have they placed their order, Nemu?"

Nemu, the most submissive looking girl Ichigo has ever seen nods slyly. She has a pony tail down to her waist and appears very timid around people. Again, Ichigo has to wonder if this girl is working at the wrong place.

"Anything else to add, guys?"

The guys murmured in negative as replies to Rukia's inquiry.

"All righty then! Your orders will be served shortly," Rukia curtsies in jest to the cheering she gets from the guys. The other girls follow her lead, giggling like only maid girls could managed. Grimmjow and Nnoitora whistle leeringly while Syazel stands aside to return the girls curtsies. Stark and Hallibel laugh quietly at their companions' childish behaviors while Kaien expresses his amusement at Weiss attempt to return the girls' curtsies. Since he sits in between him and Syazel, he could not do much apart from clumsily bumps on the table. In short, they are pretty much enjoying themselves except for Ichigo.

His heart skips. He even forgets to breathe and if it was not for Rangiku who issuddenly hogging his head from behind, he thinks he would probably have suffered a state of delusional from the lack of oxygen to the brain. But who is he kidding? With his head in between Rangiku's boobs, he would probably die of asphyxiation anyway.

This basically answer his early question about how do these girls know Rukia. They freaking work together! The information he gets just stated that Rukia works part time as a waitress. He would never have guess that Rukia could be working as one of the maid girls at a maid café.

_Damn it Kisuke._

Ichigo could not tear his eyes away from Rukia. With the short black frilly black dress, the black net stockings, the white apron complete with the frilly head band, she looks… so damn delectable. Ichigo wants to taste her.

Ichigo swallows hard.

"Oi Kurosaki, your nose is bleeding!" teases Syazel from the next table.

Ichigo who thinks his nose is indeed bleeding, panics and starts to cover up his nose with the back of his hand. This causes the place to erupt with laughter. They all think Ichigo is spluttering about because he has his head in Rangiku's bottomless valleys when in fact he could not deny the reaction of his raging teenage male hormone when he saw Rukia in the maid outfit.

Ichigo grins foolishly as he listens to the mocking and heckling coming from the guys. He let them think whatever they want to think. However there is no mistaken the enmity that emits from Grimmjow. Ichigo tries hard not to look at the blue haired teen seeing that he can sense what actually is going through Ichigo's mind.

"Let go of him, Rangiku. He is suffocating," instructs Rukia when she notices how red Ichigo's face is.

Still laughing, Rangiku do just that. She then kisses both of Ichigo's cheeks which leave lipstick marks to cover his red blush. It seems like Ichigo does not have any sort of problem fitting right in.

"Is he always this shy?" asks Tatsuki. Most of the customers they get are always trying to take advantage of them which is why the owner of this shop only hired girls who knows how to defend themselves. It saved the café tones of money on insurance. Tatsuki herself is a black-belt owner for Taekwando. Nanao, Nemu and Rangiku are kendōka as well and members of their own Kendo club at their all girls school. Their groups have met at a competition. One thing led to the other until they have become quite acquainted which eventually led to them spending their time every Tuesday after school at this café.

Syazel shrugs. "None of us knows him that well. He was transferred here about two months ago. We don't actually hang out together."

"Why did he choose to join the club then?"

"Why not? We are a good bunch of people, right Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow snorts at Nel's naïve question. So are the others. Nnoitora pats her back sympathetically but the ever so blur Nel just beams with glee. Tatsuki facepalms.

"How long has he been joining the club?"

"This is my third week," answers Ichigo as he glares at the others. He is not sure why everyone is talking like he is not existed in the café at the moment.

"Are you any good?"

At this question, everyone from the Kendo Club snorts. Ichigo deadpans.

"Even _you_ can beat his ass," replies Weiss to Nanao's question.

"Hey I take that as an offense!" Nanao glower at him at being treated as the weakest link.

"Don't believe everything that they said," says Ichigo with a silly smile on his face, trying to salvage what little dignity he has left.

"Have you sparred with him, Nel?" asks Nemu quietly. If Nanao is the weakest link in her group, Nel is the weakest link in their group.

"I'm glad you ask!" exclaims Nel cheerfully, eager to pass on information.

However before she could continue, Hallibel has taken the liberty to pass on the information first. "Ichigo never spar with anyone else except Rukia," she states matter-of-factly.

It is indeed a true fact. They have all tried to challenge him, especially Grimmjow and Nnoitora, simply because it is the only chance they can kick his ass but Ichigo always refused. His answer was always the same: he will wait for Rukia. They thought that he wants to deem back his pride from the embarrassing lost he received at his first sparring so they let it be, since they are all aware that he does not stand a chance. The only reason Ichigo has accepted Ulquiorra's challenge was because the emerald eyed teen did it for Rukia. It is also because he is not dumb enough to say no when the club president challenge you for a spar.

Rukia who does not know anything about this looks questioningly at Ichigo. "Really?"

"Really!" answer the others in unison and everyone missed Grimmjow's sarcastic tone.

Ichigo thinks that he might be seeing things because Rukia is blushing! That is truly unexpected. Ichigo smirks arrogantly which only caused Rukia to blush even harder.

Smack!

Ichigo rubs the top of his head where Rukia had knocked him with her knuckles. Instead of yelping in pain or curses angrily, he just chuckles merrily. Ichigo finds it impossible to be angry with her when she is in the maid outfit.

Rukia shakes her fists exasperatedly. "Idiot!"

She huffs irritably and turns around ready to leave.

"Where are you going, Rukia?" blurts Ichigo awkwardly before he could stop himself. He ignores the coos and mockery he gets from the others.

"To get your order, lover-boy," answers Rangiku teasingly on Rukia's behalf. At her words both Ichigo and Rukia turns all six shades of red which warrant an even greater jeering from the guys. Even Stark has joins in.

"Shh… don't let our prez hears you, Rangiku," whispers Stark. The other giggles at his statement and everyone fail to notice the bewildered look that appears briefly on Ichigo's face who does not really know what Stark means.

Grimmjow on the other hand watches what had passed quietly as he slowly puts the chips into his mouth. Rukia catches his eyes momentarily and senses the uneasiness in his blue cobalt orbs. She raises her head questioningly at him and he answered her by a simple smile and a slight shake of his head, telling her that there is nothing she should be worried about. Rukia holds his gaze for a few seconds longer to ensure that he is really okay before she breaks the gaze and starts to the kitchen.

After the four other girls follow Rukia albeit reluctantly, the conversations at the table resumes. Starks and Hallibel listen as Kaien, Syazel, Weiss, Nel and even Nnoitora eagerly explain to Ichigo some of the things they thought he should know about the Kendo Club. After all he has been an official member for two hours.

So Ichigo sits there listen to the history of the club. Before they enrolled to the school, the school did not have a club for Kendo. They have made sure that the school built a dojo for Kendo Club. Their families donated money to build the dojo so the school did not have any reason to object. The eight of them created the club for the reason that they want a private place in school where they can pretty much hang out. Over the years, there are student who are interested to join the club, mostly girls. Soon they found out that most them wanted to join to get close to their 'idol'. Since they would not tolerate such things, they started 'intense training' for the student who joined. Before long, they left the club on their own accord and thought it would be less hazardous admiring their 'idol' from afar.

Ichigo inquires about Rukia but they quickly change the subject to other matter such as the fact that Hallibel and Stark are dating. Both of them are grinning lazily when ichigo is informed about this. It does not come as a surprise to Ichigo though because he could pretty much guess it. Stark and Hallibel have been practically together ever since Ichigo first saw them.

There are also the romance between Nnoitora and Nel. Now, this one is indeed a shocker because Ichigo had thought that Grimmjow was the one having a relationship with the green haired teen based on the death glare he received the day he stepped into the dojo. Apparently the reason why Grimmjow is being protective of Nel is because they are cousins. It makes sense if you look at their outrageous hair color but he is not going to say anything about _that_. No matter how he looks at it, he still does not understand how Grimmjow can allowed Nnoitora of all people to date his cousin. Ichigo certainly would order Kisuke to 'take care' of Nnoitora if he ever show even the slightest interest towards his sisters.

At the mention of their relationship, Nnoitora gives Nel a French kiss. Weiss and Syazel pretend that they are gagging. Kaien laughs heartily while Grimmjow is cursing Nnoitora with his beautifully crafted words. Hallibel on the other hand perceives this as some sort of a challenge and without missing a beat she quickly does the same thing to Stark who complies without complain. Ichigo must say that he could get used to this havoc. He smiles deviously.

When that settles and Kaien deem that it is a tie between the two couples, Weiss continues to tell Ichigo the upmost secret of the Kendo Club. Nothing in the world could prepare what he hears next. His scowl immediately deepens and his smile disappears.

"For how long?" asks Ichigo solemnly.

"That is none of your concern," comes the unexpected reply from behind. Ichigo does not have to turn around to known to who the voice belongs to.

"Ulquiorra…"

"Kurosaki," notes Ulquiorra.

You can hear a pin drops in the silent that ensues. Everyone avoid looking into the other person's eyes as the awkward silent prolongs while Ichigo and Ulquiorra engange in a glaring contest.

Nnoitora is the first to break the quiet with an exclamation when he sees the four girls and Rukia returns with their orders.

"What's going on?" questions Rukia who immediately notice the tension that is so palpable in the air. She looks questioningly at Ulquiorra.

"We are leaving, Rukia."

Rukia raises an eyebrow. Her shift is not over for another two hours.

"I have taken care of everything," says Ulquiorra when he notices the confusedness on Rukia's face. Upon hearing Ulquiorra's reply, Rukia looks apologetically at the other four girls. She does not like it when Ulquiorra uses his influence to get around certain matters.

The ever so perceptive Nanao smiles back to reassure Rukia that they do not mind about it at all. "We get this covered, Rukia. It is your birthday after all."

Ichigo looks incredulously at Rukia. She tucks her hair behind her ears, a sign that she is nervous about something and Ichigo knows exactly what.

"I thought we are going to celebrate with everyone here," says Rukia as she glance at Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra looks at Ichigo. "There has been a change of plan."

_What the fuck is that all about?_

"If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to," Ichigo says in between gritted teeth.

Grimmjows chuckles silently at Ichigo's stupidity while Nnoitora shakes his head with a sleezy grin on his face. From the corner of his eyes, Ichigo could see Stark facepalming.

Ulquiorra does not say a word of retaliation. Instead he looks at Rukia and just likes before Ichigo notices his eyes smiling down at her, telling her that the decision is hers.

Ichigo is beyond irate. "I don't know why you are celebrating your birthday when it's not even your birthday today."

Ichigo thinks he could hear everyone's neck snapping as they turn to look at him incredulously.

Rolling his eyes, Syazel shakes his head disbelievingly. "I think Rukia would know when her birthday is, Kurosaki."

Ichigo scoffs. He stares daringly at Rukia who has tapping her feet by now, clearly irritated. "Oh really?"

The sarcasm in Ichigo's voice is so notable; Rukia hisses angrily yet she chooses to remain tight-lipped. The hurts that flashes in that purple orbs of hers makes Ichigo cringes. He immediately regrets his inconsiderate words.

"Just what the fuck is wrong with you, Kurosaki?" barks Grimmjow who thinks that Ichigo has successfully killed the fun. The others nod in agreement. They are looking at Ichigo unimpressed and no longer amuse.

"I'll see you later, Ichigo."

Ichigo flinches as he heard the unhidden spitefulness in Rukia's voice.

"Wait, Rukia! Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean –"

Before Ichigo could finish his sentence, Rukia has practically drags Ulquiorra away towards the door. Ichigo can only manage to look longingly at her retreating back. He curses himself for being such an insensitive asshole.

"You are so dead…" cackles Nnoitora when the café door slams shut.

For once Ichigo has to agree with the creepy lanky teen.

* * *

In case you are wondering what the big secret is (and you couldn't figure out what it is on your own), it will be revealed in the next chapter. Hopefully :P

Warning: I think the more chapter this story has, the cuter it gets. I am not used to writing cute stuff so please find it in your heart to pardon the cliché-ness *blush*

Read and Review!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I would like to thank these people for their reviews on chapter 6: me, qewla, kanade-chan, Sexy-beast and someone anonymous. Also for the people I've already replied to. I am sorry for the long hiatus.

Disclaimer: I don't use big words and I don't own Bleach. And my works are beta'd by le .papillon .blanc. Many thanks and much loves.

* * *

Ichigo slams the door to his Jeep. He has just sent Kaien, Syazel and Grimmjow to their respective homes. They sure did a good job at making him feel more frustrated than he already is for none of them spoke a word on their way back.

He sighs heavily. He still could not believe some of the things that he had learned about Rukia today.

His scowl deepens when he sees his trusted man leaning nonchalantly against the massive door, smirking at him. His eyes that are always almost hidden underneath his colorful choice of hats glint at the sight of Ichigo.

"You purposely omitted the information from the report," hisses Ichigo angrily as he walks past Urahara.

The smirk on Urahara's lips widens. He can guess what information Ichigo is referring to, but being who he is, he chooses to play dumb. He enjoys playing mind games with his young master.

"What information would that be, Kurosaki?" questions Urahara. He tilts his head inquiringly, acting innocent. He grabs the school jacket Ichigo discarded a moment ago, as well as his school bag. He passes them to the awaiting female maid who stands nearby for such is her duty. The female maid quickly bows to both Ichigo and Urahara before disappearing, carrying the items back to her master's chamber.

Ichigo plops down on one of the sofas. Spending time with the members of the Kendo club prove to be rather exhausting, not to mention hazardous to his physical health.

"I don't have time to play any of your mind games, Kisuke," says Ichigo as he rubs his temples tiredly. "Not when it concerns Rukia."

Urahara has been Ichigo's personal assistant since he was still a toddler. He has practically raised Ichigo up since Kurosaki Isshin is always out of town to attend some business or the other. The twins, Yuzu and Karin are taken care of by Unohana, a motherly figure to all three children since their mother Masaki died when Ichigo was only eight. Now they are living in France with Isshin.

Urahara basically knows everything that is to know about Ichigo, so he is not surprised to see the young master so easily riled up whenever Rukia is involved. That was why he purposely omitted the information from Ichigo. He is a teenage boy after all. He needs to be normal once in a while and experience what other boys his age experiences.

"What have you found out?"

"She is working at a maid café, Kisuke. A fucking maid café."

"Oh? That is so exciting! I want to see her in a maid outfit," pouts Kisuke. "She _did_ wear one of those frilly girly maid outfits, didn't she? Which kind was it?"

Ichigo's answer is to glare daggers at Urahara. The man with the green striped hat cannot help but chuckle because for a fleeting second, he saw a perverted glint in those amber orbs of his young master. It is a perfectly normal reaction for a teenage boy with raging hormones. "You are hopeless, Kurosaki."

"Shut up, Kisuke," snaps Ichigo, irritated.

"Ah young love…"

"I said shut up."

Urahara sniggers but does as he is told. (done in the present so present tense used) He crosses his arms in front of his chest as he studies his young master's face. He notices the scowl is deeper than usual; his lips are set in thin line and his jaw tightens as his teeth grind against one another irritatingly.

"You are more temperamental than usual, Kurosaki," states Urahara worriedly. (worryingly is a adverb so it would imply that what Urahara said was worrying, which isn't the case)

Ichigo scoffs. "You think?"

"What happened?"

Ichigo does not answer straight away. After a few seconds tick by, he looks at Urahara and the man knows immediately what is coming.

"I want information on Ulquiorra."

"As in… the heir of Schiffer?"

"How many Ulquiorras are there?" snaps Ichigo.

Urahara looks long and hard at Ichigo. He initially had bad feelings when he learned that Ichigo wanted to join the Kendo club because Ulquiorra was there, but knowing that stopping him would be fruitless since Rukia is one of the members, Urahara kept his mouth shut.

"Why?"

"Just do as you are told, Kisuke. This time make sure that you do not leave out any information," reminds Ichigo sternly. "I mean it."

Urahara nods his head once so it obscured his worried eyes from Ichigo. "As you wish, young master."

Satisfied with Urahara's reply, Ichigo leaves the lobby and goes to his study room. He needs to make a phone call. Ichigo figures that since Renji is one of Rukia's closest friends, he would probably know something about the stuff that is (stuff has no plural because applies to more than one thing, but 'is' etc would still be used instead of 'are') jamming his brain at the moment.

Renji finally answers his phone after the fourth try. ('Four tries' is similar to saying 'four pens', but 'fourth try' applies to one incident, like saying 'pen number four') Ichigo can hear his other friends in the background, indicating that they are still hanging out at the bar.

"It's me. I need to ask you something."

"Ya sure. What is it, Kurosaki?"

Upon hearing Ichigo's name, Keigo starts wailing in the background. Soon Ichigo hears a loud thump and a yell of pain from Keigo. No doubt one of the guys has shut him up, most probably Ikkaku.

"Do you know if Rukia is seeing anyone?"

"…"

"Hello? Renji? Are you there?" Ichigo thought that Keigo must have had his hold on Renji's phone when he finally hears Renji's reply at the end of the line.

"I told you to stay away from her."

Ichigo scowls. Again with the threats. He is getting tired of hearing that shit. "Just answer the god damn question, Renji."

Again, Renji does not answer his question immediately. He takes his time to come up with an answer. This time Ichigo waits patiently.

"Not that I know of," is the solemn reply from Renji.

Ichigo lets out the breath that he did not realize he was holding. So Renji does not know about it either. Ichigo grunts in frustration.

"Kurosaki…"

"Yeah?"

"Forget about her. There are plenty of other fishes in the sea."

"Why?" challenges Ichigo. "Jealous?"

"Just stay away."

Click.

Ichigo stares at his cell for a few second in disbelief. The bastard hung up his phone! Just what the hell is wrong with everyone? Why does everyone seem to be overly protective of her?

He closes his eyes and leans back on the chair. His fingers unconsciously go up to the bridge between his eyes to massage it, in hope that it would ease some of the tension. His mind could not stop wandering over the scenarios that Rukia and Ulquiorra might be in. He could not stop wondering what the two of them could be doing at this very moment. Ichigo grunts again. Thinking of the possibilities only pisses him off further.

Ichigo grabs Rukia's file from the drawer and starts to browse over the contents again for the nth time. Something just does not seem right but nothing seems to be out of place. He looks at the content page by page, hoping to find a clue. There must be something that has triggered all these reactions from the people around her, particularly Grimmjow and Renji.

He understands why the dumb girls at the school are pissed at her. Well, kind of. He has witnessed how most of the boys at school treat her, fawning over her. He could not blame them. She is special in her own unique way. Ichigo could hardly believe his own eyes when he first saw her on the day he transferred school. She has matured so much into such a fine looking young lady.

His mind vividly recalls the frilly black maid dress that she was wearing today.

Ichigo gulps.

Fucking Ulquiorra… that lucky bastard!

Ichigo picks up a picture of her exiting the school ground. According to the date at the corner of the picture, it was taken a month before he transferred here. Thinking back, Urahara did mention that he was having problems getting information on Rukia. It surprised Ichigo since Urahara hardly ever has problems when it comes to gathering information. He is one of the best after all. Ichigo has never bothered to ask why though.

Does it have something to do with her relationship with Ulquiorra?

###

They were all staring at him weirdly.

"You are so dead…" Nnoitora cackled.

"What are you trying to pull, Kurosaki?" asked Kaien.

"I so don't want to be you right now," chimed Rangiku.

Ichigo looked out the window. Ulquiorra's car was leaving the parking lot. He did not give a damn about what these guys thought of him. He did not need anyone to remind him what he had done. He knew he had hurt Rukia and that made him pissed. He wanted to punch himself unconscious. He cannot believe he had let his jealousy and foolishness got the better of him.

Since Ichigo stayed silent and pretty much ignored what they said, they started their meal and gradually the mood picked up again and conversation resumed. They talked about school, gossip (plural is gossip as well), girls, boys, tournaments, gossip and more gossip.

Ichigo on the other hand just played with his food. He just wanted to get up and get the fuck out of there but before he can do that, he needed to find out about Rukia and…

"Hey," Ichigo started. The others stop whatever they were doing and looked at him. "What's up with Ulquiorra and Rukia?" asked Ichigo. They blinked a few times. They did not think that Ichigo would have the nerve to ask about it after what had happened few minutes ago.

"Why do you want to know?" asked Weiss suspiciously.

Ichigo shrugged. "Might as well tell me about it."

He picked up his drink and sipped it slowly, looking nonchalantly at the other members of the Kendo club. He ignored the scrutinizing gaze the others threw at him. He felt the tension in the air. It was so palpable. They were obviously weighing the option of whether or not they should disclose any information to him. With the kind of stunt he pulled earlier, Ichigo did not blame them for being extra cautious. This is the best kept secret in the school after all.

"I still can't see why it is any of your fucking business with what is going on with those two," it was obvious that Grimmjow did not want Ichigo to know.

"Look, I'm sorry for my awry jokes earlier –"

"That wasn't even a joke, you asshole," Grimmjow corrected. Kaien nodded, agreeing with what Grimmjow just said.

Ichigo clenched his fist. He cannot take this rudeness anymore. If these guys did not tell him about Rukia and Ulquiorra, he would just ask Kisuke to find it out for him. It may take longer and would try his patience but at least he did not have to endure the humiliation. He abruptly stood up; the sudden movement caused the table to shake.

Everyone who sat at the two tables was surprised by his sudden outburst. He looked so offhanded just a few minutes ago. They wondered what could have taken over Ichigo. The blue haired teen beside him however just continued to seethe as he glared at Ichigo, not the slightest bit perturbed by his rage.

"I'm getting the fuck out of here," fumed Ichigo.

Nel tugged at Nnoitora's hand, urging the tall teen to do something. Nnoitora ignored Nel. He was interested in seeing what would happen next. He found Ichigo's change of attitude pretty amusing especially when it comes to Rukia. He was sure that he was not the only one who noticed it, judging by how Grimmjow looked at the moment; he was ready to pounce on Ichigo at any given moment. Meanwhile, Kaien and Weiss exchanged uncomfortable looks with Stark. Both were unsure if they should just let Ichigo be. After all, Ulquiorra has made it clear that Ichigo should remain in the club, whether or not he had ulterior motives, none of them would know for sure.

"Chill out, Kurosaki," Stark finally said. Ichigo snapped his head to look at Stark who was looking back at him lazily without much interest. Hallibel was looking rather bored as well as their eyes met. "We will tell you what you want to know. Now calm the fuck down, will ya?"

Syazel nodded. "It is the least we can do since you are part of the family now."

Grimmjow who obviously disagreed snarled in protest.

"Oh hush Grimmjow, he would know sooner or later. There is no way we can hide such an obvious thing anyway," said Syazel as he sipped his drink.

Ichigo blinked. These guys were confusing him. Were they playing another trick on him? Ichigo glanced at the guy beside him. No, he did not think so.

"They are seeing each other," Stark started.

"So they are together?" asked Ichigo stupidly.

"Did you not hear what he said the first time?" whined Nnoitora as he wrapped his hand around Nel's hips.

Although Ichigo could have pretty much guessed it, the fact still tugged harshly at his heart. He sat down again to digest the information he had received. Kaien looked warningly at Grimmjow for the latter was at his limit with Ichigo's reactions. Grimmjow growled in frustration but kept his anger in check.

"Since when?"

Stark shrugged. "Ulquiorra never said anything about it. Did he tell any of you guys anything? Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow grunted. He was not going to tell Ichigo anything. If any of these fools wanted to get their asses burned by Ulquiorra's wrath, so be it. Not that he was afraid of Ulquiorra, it just that he had made a promise.

"So how can you guys be so sure that they are together?"

The guys face-palmed where else Hallibel and the clueless Nel chuckled.

"Kurosaki, have you _seen_ Ulquiorra?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

This time everyone laughed. Even Grimmjow chuckled. Ichigo had successfully broken the ice without even realizing it.

"I love that guy but he is as straight as a pole; emotionless and uncaring," whined Syazel.

Ichigo quickly recalled the smile and twinkling of life in Ulquiorra's otherwise dead eyes right before he kicked his ass during the sparring they had earlier. Ichigo decided to keep it to himself.

"He only gets animated when _she_ is around," confessed Nnoitora. The others, except for Grimmjow, nodded in unison.

"'She' as in Rukia?"

"Fuck dude, are you a fucking moron or something?" asked the irritated Grimmjow.

"I was just making sure –"

"What the fuck is there to make sure of?"

Ichigo sighed. _So they have noticed it too…_

"All we know is, about a year ago Ulquiorra walked into the dojo with Rukia in tow. He made the introduction and that was it. We could all see that he was infatuated with Rukia and before we knew it, they were always together," explained Kaien, hoping that Ichigo will get it this time around.

And Ichigo did.

###

Ulquiorra gently holds the nervous hands of Rukia. She is no longer clad in her maid outfit. They have stopped by her house so that she can change out of the ridiculous uniform. Although Ulquiorra likes the maid outfit on her, it still pisses him off when other people start ogling Rukia. The best example was Ichigo.

"Why are we in your father's office, Que?" asks Rukia as she unconsciously slips her loose hair behind her ears with her free hand. Ulquiorra smiles a little. He likes it when Rukia called him that. No one has ever used that nickname before or more likely they do not dare to come up with one. Rukia only uses it when they are alone though.

"You will see."

Ulquiorra walks her to a door at the end corner of his father office. "Ready?"

"Just what are you up to?"

Another smile graces Ulquiorra's lips. He could not wait to see Rukia's reaction. Without answering her question, he opens the door with his eyes on Rukia.

Rukia gasps as her eyes widen in surprise. Apparently the door is the only access to the rooftop. The rooftop was made into a garden full of bamboo trees, palms, beautiful green shrubs and there were white flowers everywhere: calla lilies, petunias, dahlias, bunny tails, tuberoses, roses, amaryllis and many others. There was no concrete in sight; everything is covered with lush green grass. Because the sun is about to set, the lights are on which illuminate the garden. Rukia totally forgets that she is on a rooftop. What attracts Rukia's attention however is the wooden pagola in the middle of the garden. The top of the pagola is totally sheltered with white bougainvillea.

Rukia looks at Ulquiorra. He nods, knowing exactly what is on Rukia's mind. She takes off her sneakers and takes tentative steps towards the pagola. Ulquiorra follows closely behind, loving every reaction that he receives from Rukia.

Underneath the bougainvillea is a picnic setting for two which includes a white icing cake with "Happy Birthday" written in pearl white. Rukia turns to Ulquiorra once again however this time her eyes are full of tears. He has never seen Rukia cry before. She has always been so strong, even in the most trialed times. This makes Ulquiorra panic though he hid it well.

Before he can open his mouth to ask what is wrong, Rukia is hugging him closely with her face buried in his clothed chest. Ulquiorra hugs her back gently. His panic does not subside though.

"Thank you," says Rukia slowly, almost inaudible to Ulquiorra's ears.

Ulquiorra raises an eyebrow, clearly confused. "What for?"

Rukia gazes up at him then and it makes his heart swell… he can only describe it as happiness. He can feel himself relax, all his panic vanishes in an instant as he looks down into the amethyst orbs of Rukia, almost drowning in the sensation. Being in her embrace gives him a sense of calmness that he never knew existed.

The next thing he knows they are kissing until they are both gasping for breath.

"For letting me do this," says Rukia as she kisses Ulquiorra again.

###

Ichigo wakes up with a start as Urahara shakes him lightly. Apparently he fell asleep while browsing through Rukia's file.

"The information you want," says Urahara seriously as he hands Ichigo the file. He looks closely as his young master picks up the file and starts looking at the pages one by one. With the turn of every page, his scowl deepens.

Urahara got the feeling that he knows why Ichigo is so angry. Ichigo will not bother about Ulquiorrra unless he has something to do with Rukia.

Silently, Ichigo puts down the file. The anger is clearly shown in his amber eyes.

"Is this the truth, Kisuke?"

"I am afraid so, Kurosaki."

"I'm going to kill that son-of-a-bitch," declares (I think this is a better word than 'claim', because 'claim' can also mean that a lie is being told, and we don't want that here.) Ichigo as he slams his fists on the table. One of the pictures from Ulquiorra's file falls to the floor. Urahara picks it up and looks grimly at the picture. It shows Ulquiorra with the royal princess of neighbouring country, his fiancé.

* * *

Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I would like to thank these people for their reviews on chapter 7: Melynn and fanfic fanatic. Also for the people I'd already replied to. Especially to Kittens Hellfire. Happy birthday!

You guys asked me questions. It will be answered as the chapter goes on. Hold on tight to your seat!

Disclaimer: I don't use big word and I don't own Bleach. My work is not beta'd either

* * *

Grimmjow still remember the day Ulquiorra came up to him and told him (more like ordered him) to follow him to a kendo tournament. Grimmjow who was curious quickly agreed. If Ulquiorra, a total social outcast, asked him to go somewhere, especially if it was a tournament that he was not participating, then there was definitely something interesting going on.

Besides the few friends that he grew up with, Ulquiorra did not get along well with anyone else. He was always so reserved and acted as what was expected of him, which most of the time drove Grimmjow up the wall. Even though the rest of the cliques were pretty close, Ulquiorra is actually his best friend and vice versa. Ulquiorra only trusted Grimmjow with his deepest secret.

That was why when he saw what it was that caught Ulquiorra's interest at the tournament, it totally blew his mind away. That day, Ulquiorra who seldom (more like never) had any readable emotions, was for the first time perhaps in his life, opened up like a book. That was the first time for Grimmjow to see Ulquiorra showed so many emotions. It definitely took him by surprised. He didn't think that Ulquiorra even have those emotions. But more than anything, he was glad to know that Ulquiorra is not such a heartless stuck up bastard. That he too can feel with his heart.

His green emerald eyes lighted up when he saw a small petit kendoka having her way with her opponent who almost twice her height. She made it looked so effortless. She was unbeatable. Grimmjow thought that she was so similar to Ulquiorra in that way, whenever he held a shinai in his hand. Both he and Ulquiorra could not tear their eyes away from her.

"I want her," Ulquiorra said after the girl was declared victorious. Grimmjow's neck almost snapped as he turned to Ulquiorra in disbelieved because this friend of his had never shown even the slightest interest in the opposite sex before (A/N: No, I'm NOT implying he's gay).

"Huh?"

"You heard me, Grimmjow."

Grimmjow chuckled heartily after the whole idea of Ulquiorra liking someone sunk in. "Indeed I did. Now what?"

"Now we meet her."

They both walked up to the girl and almost got their head knocked off with her shinai. She had mistaken them as another harasser. Once again Grimmjow was amazed at her amazing reflexes.

"Whoa… feisty, ain't you?" chuckled Grimmjow as he stopped her shinai with his left hand. Rukia eyes turned to slit as she looked at him.

"What do you want?"

"You were pretty impressive back there."

The girl did not lower her guard. She just glared at the two of them. This made Grimmjow chuckled even more. He decided that he really like this girl.

"I can see why you like her, Schiffer."

Ulquiorra glanced warningly at Grimmjow but the blue haired teen ignored him. Grimmjow just wanted to see the girl's reaction when she knew with whom she was dealing with. Everyone knows who Schiffer is in this part of the world so usually when girls learned who he is; they started to act all bitchy, clingy and shit. Grimmjow hated that, so did Ulquiorra. Unconsciously Grimmjow prayed that this girl is not like the many bitches he knew.

Slowly her gazed fell upon Ulquiorra. Their eyes met and something just clicked. Grimmjow knew it sounded cliché but hell it was the fucking truth.

Grimmjow saw a flicker of recognition in the girl's deep purple eyes but she remained in her position, defiant as ever whilst her shinai was still in Grimmjow's grasp. Grimmjow can see the blushes that creep up on her cheeks though at the realization of what he just said and he thought that she looked kinda cute. Well scratched that. Grimmjow thought that she looked incredibly cute.

"I asked you what you want," repeated the girl, still very feisty. Grimmjow thought he saw Ulquiorra breaths a sigh of relieve, knowing that this girl is not the average girls he usually acquainted with. It reminded him that he was unconsciously holding his breath too. He lets the air filled his lungs once again.

"We… _I_ want to congratulate you," said Ulquiorra. Grimmjow smirked. He thought Ulquiorra was so smitten he allowed the cat to get a hold of his tongue.

At Ulquiorra's words, the girl carefully slackened her grip on her shinai before let it down at her side.

"Thanks," said the girl. She eyed them warily as she started to gather up her things. The awkward silence continued for a few minutes longer until the girl finished her packing and was ready to leave. "Thanks again. I got to go now," said the girl, this time with a genuine smile on her lips.

Needless to say, they were both taken aback with how beautiful the smile was.

"Wait!"

The girl stopped short in her track and looked back at the two of them. Even Grimmjow is curious with what Ulquiorra had in mind.

"We can send you back," Ulquiorra said in a tone more like an order instead of an offer. Grimmjow had to stop himself from face-palming.

As Grimmjow expected, the smile was gone. Once again her guard was up.

"No, thank you. I can manage on my own. Now, if you'll excuse me –"

"Ulquiorra."

The girl looked at Ulquiorra and then at Grimmjow bewilderedly. "Huh?"

"His name is Ulquiorra. I'm Grimmjow," said Grimmjow quickly, trying to engage her attention once again. He wasn't sure why he bothered but he knew he did not want this girl to go just yet and it seems like Ulquiorra did not mind if he took the lead either.

"Oh…"

Awkward silence once again.

"Look… I really have to go."

"We didn't catch you name," stated Grimmjow.

It was obvious the girl seemed reluctant to tell them anything. Grimmjow knew he had to do something but before he got the chance to act, Ulquiorra already took the necessary action.

He offered her a place in the school, and be part of the kendo club. Grimmjow was so surprised he choked on his saliva where else the girl just looked incredulously at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra had never used his influence anywhere before, especially not at school even though his parent has made the largest donation in the history of the school. He was not one to use his position as a Schiffer to get what he wanted and yet…

"Ulquior –"

The glared he received from the emerald eyed teen shut Grimmjow up. He knew that look all too well. Ulquiorra has made his mind up and nothing could change that. Grimmjow glanced at the girl who looked confused than anything else, and back at Ulquiorra again. Damn, his friend is serious about wanting this chick.

"I… even if I want to, I… I couldn't afford the fees," replied the girl honestly almost inaudible.

"Just say yes," said Ulquiorra coolly. If Grimmjow did not know any better, he would think that Ulquiorra has no interest whatsoever towards this girl.

"Why are you doing this? It's not funny," the girl said. The look of hurt and disappointment passed her features. Grimmjow understood why. The offer was a rare opportunity. It was too good to be true. The school was only for the elitist which provided exceptional curriculum. By the look of it, this girl does not belong in that society. Hell, he doubt if she can even afford the uniform.

"I was not cracking any jokes," said Ulquiorra flatly.

The girl looked Ulquiorra straight in the eyes. The hurtful look has been replaced with anger. Before she turned to leave, Grimmjow heard she mumbled the word bastards underneath her breath. Grimmjow cannot blame the girl for being so defensive. He would too if anyone out of the blue offered him something that seemed so out of reach. It did feel like they were mocking her.

"So… that went well," Grimmjow tried to see Ulquiorra's reaction.

"I'm not done with her," with that said, Ulquiorra turned the other way and started walking leaving Grimmjow grinning all too knowingly.

True to his words, Ulquiorra found out every little thing that he needed to know about the girl. With his family connection, it took less than a week to found out where she lived or where she worked at. Grimmjow never thought that Ulquiorra as a stalker type but that girl just simply changed his friend. Grimmjow had never seen his friend so restless before. He even lost at a kendo sparring. The one and only time Grimmjow managed to beat him. Too bad no one would believe him since the others had already gone home after the practice was over.

The two of them lied down on the wooden floor, panting from the exertions. Ulquiorra could not believe he had just lost. Neither can Grimmjow. Both of their shinais were placed besides them.

"What happened to you?" asked Grimmjow, eyes staring at the fluorescent light on the ceilings. Tiredly he covered his face with a towel. He suddenly did not like how bright it was.

Ulquiorra said nothing. He held his right hand up which was still slightly shaking from the sparring. The light got through his opened fingers, creating shadows on his feature. After a few minute of silence and still no respond from Ulquiorra, Grimmjow lazily took the towel off of his face and turned to his friend. The quiet was unnerving even though Grimmjow thought that he had gotten used to it. Ulquiorra still played with his fingers and the shadows created made him looked even more mysterious. Just as Grimmjow was about to repeat the question, Ulquiorra dropped his hand to his side and sighed.

"I could not get her out of my mind," said Ulquiorra, putting his left arm to cover his eyes from the light. Grimmjow knew exactly who he was referring to. He had an idea of what was bothering his friend but he did not know that it was bothering him to this extend. Ulquiorra simply seemed to lost focus.

Grimmjow chuckled which warrant a glare from Ulquiorra.

"You are so hopeless Ulquiorra," said Grimmjow as he sat up and undone his bogu. Ulquiorra did the same.

"When are you going to meet that girl again?" asked Grimmjow.

"Her name is Rukia"

"Rukia what?"

"Just Rukia"

"Whoa, no family name?"

Ulquiorra did not answer the question. He did not have to. Now Grimmjow knew why it bothered Ulquiorra so much. Coming from his background, befriending a common people is already an offense. But to have fallen for a girl with no background was just asking for trouble.

"What exactly did you find out about her?"

Ulquiorra sighed again, a tell tale sign that it was not anything good. "She is involved with some really dubious people."

"Don't tell me that she belongs in a gang –"

Ulquiorra shook his head slightly, denying whatever Grimmjow was saying but refused to say anything else. Grimmjow knew that it was not time for him to find out about it.

"You know what this fucking means then, don't you?"

Ulquiorra nodded.

Grimmjow felt sorry for the guy yet at the same time had never been so proud of him. He never imagined that he would see the day Ulquiorra opposing and taking charge of his life. Grimmjow got to hand it to that girl – Rukia. She has just become even more intriguing.

"Are you ready to do this then?"

Ulquiorra looked at Grimmjow as if he was retarded. Grimmjow ignored the condescending look. He got up and dusted his butt, a wide grin on his face.

"So why the fuck are you still sitting here mopping about it? Let's go and get the bi –"

Ulquiorra was up in an instant and had Grimmjow by the neck.

"Call her that and see your tongue on the floor," warned Ulquiorra. He was not even kidding about it. Grimmjow chuckled as a respond to the threat as he slowly peeled Ulquiorra fingers from his neck.

"I got it, I got it. Sheesh, relax Ulquiorra. People would have the wrong idea. They would have thought that you are in love with this girl or something," teased Grimmjow as he picked up his shinai. It pleased him to notice the red tinge of blush crept up on Ulquiorra's cheek. The old Ulquiorra would never be affected with such words. Like he said, his friend was hopeless.

They showered and hurriedly went to Rukia's work place where she worked as a waitress. Just by luck, she was the one who came to serve. Once she saw them, Grimmjow can tell she was fuming. She must have thought that they were there to mock her again. Without bothering to order anything, Grimmjow then requested to see the manager. The look of dismay passed her feature when she heard that and reluctantly brought Grimmjow to meet the manager in charge. He had discussed this with Ulquiorra. There was no way they were going to spend time in this dingy restaurant eating contaminated foods, even if it's for Rukia. That was why he came up with a plan of bribing the manager to release Rukia early from her shift so that they can talk to her. As expected, the manager quickly agreed when he saw the amount of dough offered.

Grimmjow and Ulquiorra dragged Rukia out of that restaurant with her still wearing her waitress uniform. They did not give a damn about the other people who were staring at them. They practically kidnapped Rukia that day. Rukia did not struggled much until after they put her in the car. She was too shocked to react accordingly.

Grimmjow drove the car while Ulquiorra sat with her at the back seat. She was ready to jump out of the car if Ulquiorra did not stop her. Grimmjow just love how feisty she was.

"What the hell do you guys want with me?" asked Rukia. A valid question, Grimmjow thought. But he was not going to say anything. From now onwards, the show belongs to Ulquiorra… who was quiet as a mouse. Grimmjow facepalmed.

"Relax lady, we are not going to harm you," said Grimmjow to cover up for Ulquiorra. Rukia scoffed.

"Did Gin send you guys?"

Grimmjow was not prepared to hear that name from her lips. Was this what Ulquiorra meant? He chanced a glance at Ulquiorra who did not look please at all but still refused to utter a word. Sometimes Grimmjow just wanted to kick his ass. He would too if he was not too busy being his chauffeur!

"We have nothing to do with that bastard," answered Grimmjow flatly.

"Then where are you taking me?" Grimmjow can tell that she has relaxed a bit though still wary of them. That was good. Now if only Ulquiorra stop being so –

"We thought that this is the only way that you would hear me out," Ulquiorra began.

"About what?" asked Rukia.

"The offer –"

"What offer?"

Grimmjow knew that Ulquiorra does not like people interrupting him so he expected at least a death glare to be thrown at the girl. What he saw however was the opposite. Ulquiorra's eyes were full of life as he looked at the girl, no doubt admiring her beauty. Because she does has that unconventional beauty about her, Grimmjow thought to himself as he stole a glance at her from the rear view mirror.

"I want you to join our kendo club –"

"And I thought I told you I can't afford it so yeah, you can dropped me off here," Rukia tapped Grimmjow's shoulder signaling him to stop the car.

"Continue driving, Grimmjow," ordered Ulquiorra. Grimmjow gritted his teeth. He did not sign up for this. And why was he feeling so hot tempered all of a sudden. He was the one who planned all of these. He chanced another look at the girl from the rear view mirror. Her face was flushed and she was pouting.

Aww… how cute.

And he was jealous.

Whoa… where the fuck was that thought coming from? Grimmjow shook his head. He must concentrate on the road.

"You don't have to worry about the fees –"

Once again Grimmjow can hear her scoffed. "What do you want in return then?"

"Nothing –"

The girl snickered at that. Grimmjow found himself snickering too. God, this girl was infectious!

"Nothing in this world is for free, Mr. Schiffer," Grimmjow cringed at her tone. "You might think so because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. But for the likes of me, we have to earn every crumb of bread that goes into our mouth."

Both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra have no words to say to that. Knowing that her feelings had finally got to their heads, she once again instructed Grimmjow to stop the car but this time, Grimmjow did not need an order from Ulquiorra. He kept his foot on the pedal gas. This girl is just too interesting. He knew exactly how Ulquiorra was feeling now and he silently begged for Ulquiorra to say something, anything that prevented her from forever be gone out of their lives.

"What can I do to change your mind?" as if on queue, Ulquiorra questioned Rukia.

"Nothing," was the adamant answer. "Now send me back to my work place."

"I will not allow you to leave this car until we have reached an agreement."

Rukia glared dagger at Ulquiorra then. They are already on the highway so jumping out of the car was no longer an option. Rukia wished she has someone she can call for help at that moment.

"Why me?"

"Because you are an exceptional kendoka." Grimmjow shook his head in silent at Ulquiorra's answer. That was not the answer to convince the girl and both he and Ulquiorra knew it.

"That's bullshit."

"No, you really are fucking amazing at it, lady," said Grimmjow trying to convince her but of course the said lady ignored him.

"You don't need me. You're the reigning state champion –"

"I still want you…" Ulquiorra looked at Rukia straight on. She blushes all shades of red when that deep green eyes of his bored into her own purple orbs. "As part of my team," added Ulquiorra as an after thought.

Way to kill the fucking mood, Ulquiorra.

The three of them drove in silence afterwards for almost 10 minutes before Rukia timidly asked whether or not her fees will settle through scholarship or study loans. Grimmjow could not help but burst out laughing. The school they went to does not give out loans or scholarship. It is for the elitist. You can be a student in that school either because you are rich or you got a sponsor.

"Just say yes and consider the fees settled."

"No."

God this girl is stubborn!

"Let's have a spar. If I win, I can walk away from whatever sick game you guys are playing me right now," she said with confidence.

"What if you lost?" asked Grimmjow.

"Then I'll accept your offer."

Grimmjow chuckled. "You sound confident that you can beat him."

"He knows I can."

Grimmjow chuckled turned to a laughing fit. Ulquiorra accepted the challenge but he has his own condition too. If he wins, she must granted whatever he wanted from her. Because she is a proud girl, she too agreed with his condition without asking what it was that he desired.

Grimmjow brought them to Ulquiorra's place since he has a fully equip dojo. Surprisingly she was not taken with how grand the place is. Her mind was definitely focused on the sparring. The determination of these two people kind of making him nervous and he had all the right to feel like that because the spar was intense. He thought that they were similar before when he first saw her at the tournament but he didn't expect her to be this good. She sure got Ulquiorra a run for his money. Her confidence was just not empty talk. She backed it up with stunning skills that will put his to shame. Watching the fight was like watching two beautiful people dancing. They were both so fucking good at it was exhilarating. Even though physically Ulquiorra has the advantage, mentally Rukia has the upper hand. Ulquiorra has finally met his match.

In the end, they were tied and since they were both agreed before the sparring started that Grimmjow will be the only referee present, he decided the winner through Hantei.

They were both lying on the wooden floor of the dojo, exhausted from the sparring, much like Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were that afternoon. The blue haired guy walked over to them and handed them a bottle of water prepared by the servants earlier on. He then squatted next to Ulquiorra.

"He wins," Grimmjow said declaring the winner.

Her pride did not allow her to complain about it. "He won," she confirmed.

Ulquiorra slowly sat up and looked at Rukia. He knew the three of them knew that the result should be hiki-wake so it astounded him that Rukia did not protest.

"I won," he repeated, just to see what her reaction would be.

Rukia sighed as she sat up as well. "Yes, you did."

Grimmjow hugged Ulquiorra then. Mission accomplished but he can sense that Ulquiorra was not happy. Grimmjow has been friends with Ulquiorra long enough to know to read the signs. He knew Ulquiorra could never say whatever he planned to say to her if he was around so he reluctantly excused himself.

They sat in silence for a long time after Grimmjow had left. Ulquiorra has never felt so vulnerable as he did at that moment. His body then moved on its own accord, finding the courage. He went to where Rukia was, got on his knees, and cupped her cheeks with both of his hands so that she looked up to him. His green eyes pierced into hers which left her speechless.

"Free me, Rukia," pleaded Ulquiorra before he leans down and kissed her. Rukia understood then that this was what he meant when he set his condition earlier. Looking into those deep green eyes of his, she only saw a boy drowning, waiting to be rescued. She was not sure what has gotten into her but she found herself kissing him back.

She tasted as good and as sweet as he had imagined her would be. Ulquiorra was intoxicated.

They ended up doing more than just kissing that night.

Grimmjow found out what happened the next day from Ulquiorra. He made him promised that this stayed between the two of them. It was understandable. A scandal would probably mean conflict with the neighboring country since he is practically engaged to the royal princess.

"I assumed she knew about the engagement?" asked Grimmjow warily. Even though he is his friend, he did not like the idea of seeing Rukia hurting.

"I would assume the same thing since it was all over the news."

"And she is okay with it?"

"We didn't actually discuss the subject last night," said Ulquiorra flatly. Grimmjow facepalmed.

"You both are crazy fuckers, you know that right?"

Ulquiorra laughed. He actually laughed out loud!

"She definitely is –"

"Oh shut up, Ulquiorra!"

And that was how their relationship started. Rukia got into the school several weeks later. Ulquiorra paid for her school fees but she made him signed a contract saying that it was a study loans and she will pay him back. Knowing by now how stubborn she was, Ulquiorra signed the papers.

Turned out she knew about the engagement only after the day she lost her virginity to him. She called Ulquiorra up and asked about it straight up. Ulquiorra explained the situation. Amazingly, she was very calm about it which made Grimmjow respects her even more but according to Ulquiorra they never did sleep together again after that. Grimmjow felt sorry for his sexually frustrated friend sometimes.

Rukia also made Ulquiorra promised not to reveal their relationship to anyone which means that he cannot protect her from the bullies. He tried once but Rukia was so furious about it, Ulquiorra had to back off. Then there were the issue of jealousy. He might not look like it but Ulquiorra got extremely jealous when it comes to Rukia. He detests Renji and his friends because they were all too chummy with her. When he found out that Rukia changed job as a maid café waitress, he secretly bought the place and instructed the manager to close down the place whenever she was on shift with pretense that he had booked the place for that day.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg. Ulquiorra and Rukia both knew that they were playing with fire and they were both ready for the consequences.

Grimmjow does not believe in God but for these two people, he will get on his knees and pray that they will be alright.

###

Several weeks have passed since the day at the café where he humiliated himself. Rukia is still ignoring him outside the dojo and during sparring she is ruthless and merciless as always. Ichigo could not get the chance to talk to her properly and apologize. Ichigo knows that she has every right to treat him this way but it is still a bruise to his ego. It only gets worse when he sees her and Ulquiorra together.

It makes him rage.

She deserves more than that.

She deserves someone who really loves her, not just as substitute.

But first he needs to make her remembers. He has think long and hard of the most strategic way to win her over.

Ichigo fishes out his cell phone and dials Urahara number. He answers after the second rings. "Get the money ready," instructs Ichigo.

"As you wish," replies Urahara gleefully.

* * *

Read and Review!


End file.
